EU referendum: When are we likely to know?

One, two, three …

Earlier today, the provisional size of the UK and Gibraltar electorate voting in the EU referendum was shown as 46,499,537 1 and we now have to wait for the 382 local voting areas to count and announce. The counting areas for Sunderland & Foyle in Northern Ireland predicted that their counts would be announced around 12:30am which, as far as I can tell, seems to be the earliest announcement. 2

The Chair of the Electoral Commission is the Chief Counting Officer responsible for certifying the outcome of the referendum and will be based in Manchester Town Hall. The Chief Counting Officer will only declare the national referendum result from there once all regional totals and the total for Northern Ireland have been approved and declared. 3

The estimated time for the national declaration is around breakfast time on Friday 24 June, although there is considerable uncertainty about when this will be given that it is dependent on all 382 local totals being declared. 4

    Footnotes
  1. The final electorate for the referendum cannot be confirmed until 9pm on polling day: EU referendum count information, | The Electoral Commission
  2. There’s a handy spreadsheet outlining the estimated declaration times for each local counting area embedded within “EU Referendum count processes and results” | The Electoral Commission
  3. EU Referendum count processes and results, p2 | The Electoral Commission
  4. EU Referendum count processes and results, p3 | The Electoral Commission