1. Since counties typically release the count from early voting first on election night, and since Democrats are poised to dominate that vote, Biden almost certainly will jump to a quick lead in Ohio.

2. However, the rest of the night will consist of a running accumulation of Election Day votes, which Republicans are expected to dominate. So by the end of the night, Trump could well have taken the lead.

3. Now comes possibly the white-knuckle part. Once the Election Day totals are finalized, the secretary of state’s office will announce how many outstanding mail ballots remain. Under longstanding state law, ballots that are postmarked before Election Day are added to the total if they arrive within 10 days after the election.

No interim counts will be announced during that 10-day period, meaning the nation may not know who won Ohio until mid-November.