Early vote returns in US battleground states may not be a good indicator of whether Democratic candidate Kamala Harris or Republican rival Donald Trump will win, experts say, thanks to vote counting rules and quirks in several key states, Reuters reports.

In the 2020 election, some states showed a “red mirage,” in which Trump was leading on election night, before a “blue shift” saw Democrat Joe Biden overtake him as mail-in ballots favored by more Democratic voters were counted.

Experts had accurately predicted it would happen but Trump still used the shift to amplify his false claims that the election was stolen.

It could happen again this week, especially in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.

The opposite — a “blue mirage” apparently showing a strong result for Harris only for a “red shift” to reverse the trend — could also happen this week, especially in North Carolina and Georgia.

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