Head of Fox News Decision Desk: Why results in swing states likely won't be known on election night

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There may not be a clear winner on Election Day in November, according to the director of the Fox News Decision Desk, Arnon Mishkin.

As President Trump and the presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden battle for the White House, this election could be unprecedented, given the coronavirus pandemic and the increased use of mail-in voting.

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"We're going to know on election night who won the District of Columbia ... Idaho ... New York and ... California," Mishkin said on the "Fox News Rundown" podcast Tuesday.

"But many of the swing states that, you know, right now look like they're within five points or seven points could easily become so close that it will not be clear on election night," he told host Jessica Rosenthal.

Mishkin explained that Election Day votes will be counted that night but many mail-in votes will be counted over the next couple days.

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*And depending on the state, as long as they're postmarked by Election Day, they count," he said. "And many of those mail-in votes may tend to be more Biden than [votes cast] on Election Day."

In past elections, Mishkin explains, the mail-in vote hasn't differed much from the Election Day vote but he said that could change.

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As Trump has raised the issues of election fraud and criticized mass mail-in voting, he says Republicans are saying they are less likely to vote by mail, whereas Democrats are far more willing to do so.

"So on election night, we may be looking at states where it seems that President Trump is in the lead, but there's still 20 or 30 percent of the vote outstanding," Mishkin said. "And we either think that vote might be slightly more backbiting or we don't have a clue what that vote is ... and so we're not able to make the call in those states."