It might be noted in the animation above that while the departure of electrons may leave the electroscope with an overall charge, the needle is still not deflected. The excess of positive charge remains localized in the plate of the electroscope, being strongly attracted to the negative charge of the balloon. Once the balloon is withdrawn, there is a movement of any remaining electrons in such a way that the positive excess charge becomes distributed about the entire electroscope. At this point, the needle of the electroscope becomes deflected and shows the presence of charge.