Results Despite his campaign's blunders, Ford managed to close the remaining gap in the polls, and by election day, the race was judged to be even. It took most of that night and the following morning to determine the winner. It was not until 3:30 am EST that NBC was able to declare that Carter had carried Mississippi and had thus accumulated more than the 270 electoral votes needed to win. Seconds later, ABC News also declared Carter the winner, based on projections for Carter in Wisconsin and Hawaii, while CBS News announced Carter's victory at 3:45 am.Jules Witcover. Marathon: The Pursuit of the Presidency, 1972–1976 (New York: Viking), p. 11. Carter defeated Ford by two percentage points in the national popular vote.
results despite his campaign's blunders ford managed to close the remaining gap in the polls and by election day the race was judged to be even it took most of that night and the following morning to determine the winner it was not until 330 am est that nbc was able to declare that carter had carried mississippi and had thus accumulated more than the 270 electoral votes needed to win seconds later abc news also declared carter the winner based on projections for carter in wisconsin and hawaii while cbs news announced carter's victory at 345 amjules witcover marathon the pursuit of the presidency 1972–1976 (new york viking) p 11 carter defeated ford by two percentage points in the national popular vote