CNN released a statement today saying it has commandeered the Empire State Building's "state-of-the-art dynamic lighting system" for the purposes of transforming the skyscraper into a building-size election results meter that will display "CNN's running tally of the race to 270."

As states are called, the spire atop the ESB will add blocks of red or blue to either candidate's column until a winner is declared — at which point the color scheme will change from "patriotic red, white and blue vertical stripes" to a uniform red or blue depending on who won.

So, if you live in New York and for some fantastical reason you have no other way of receiving real-time election results, you can always look up.

[photo via AP]