I want one clear map for election results. I've seen multiple pieces of information displayed in different ways, and they should all be combined.
First, don't use a literal map. That is irrelevant. Use a "sized proportional to electoral vote impact" - makes it more obvious that "physical size of state" is irrelevant. ("The Hexagon" from this, for example: https://resource.esriuk.com/blog/2016-11-1-us-election-2016-battle-of-the-maps/ )
Second, I love NPR's new "fill" to show "percent of votes counted": https://www.npr.org/2020/11/05/931689853/how-vote-counting-is-going-in-the-final-states-waiting-to-be-called - Add that.
Having the state completely red or completely blue (or electoral college hex at least, for split-vote states Maine and Nebraska,) for "called" states is fine, so you can see at a glance who won each, rather than having to determine "is this shade of purple more red or more blue?" is fine. But for tossup/still-in-progress, gradient to show progress please.
Then, for states that haven't yet been called, use a color-coded gradient fill on the "progress" portion, showing how the vote/balance was at each stage during the count. This might show, for example, that a state was red-dominant early in the count, but has been trending toward blue later in the count. (or vice versa.) Maybe make it log so the latest results are more prominent?