Midterm Election Night Schedule Shows When Polls Close and Results May Arrive Across U.S. States
A state-by-state timetable outlines poll closing times and expected vote-counting timelines for the November 3, 2026 midterm elections, highlighting key congressional, Senate and gubernatorial races.
Voters across the United States will cast ballots for thousands of federal, state and local races on Tuesday, November 3, 2026. Election officials have released a timetable that indicates when polls close in each state and how quickly vote counts are likely to be reported, based on patterns from the 2024 election.
In Indiana and Kentucky, the first polls close early in the evening, but statewide winners will not be known until the last polls close at 7 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (5:30 a.m. IST). Competitive U.S. House contests in Indiana’s 5th district and Kentucky’s 6th district are among the early races to watch.
At 7 p.m. EST, polls close in six states, including Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia, which traditionally finish most of their counting on election night. In 2024, these states reached the halfway point in the 8 p.m. hour and reported 90 percent of votes by the early morning hours. The Associated Press declared Republican Donald Trump the winner of Georgia’s presidential contest shortly after midnight.
Florida’s polls also close at 7 p.m., covering all competitive congressional districts, but statewide results will wait for the Central Time Zone polls to close at 8 p.m. North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia finish voting at 7:30 p.m., with vote-counting in 2024 reaching 90 percent by around 9:30 a.m. IST. The AP announced the winner of Ohio’s U.S. Senate race that night.
The 8 p.m. hour sees polls close in nearly half the states, including Florida, Maine, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania. Florida typically reports results quickly, with 90 percent of votes counted by 8:07 p.m. in 2024. New Hampshire and Pennsylvania reached the halfway mark later that night, while Maine did not hit 50 percent until after midnight.
Michigan and Texas also close at 8 p.m., but statewide winners will wait until the final polls close at 9 p.m. (7:30 a.m. IST). Arkansas polls finish at 8:30 p.m.
A larger wave of closures occurs at 9 p.m., covering Arizona, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York, Texas and Wisconsin. In 2024, many of these states reached 50 percent of the count between 10 p.m. and midnight, with 90 percent of votes tallied by the early morning hours of the following day.
Polls close at 10 p.m. in Montana, Nevada, Utah and parts of Idaho and Oregon. Arizona, while closing at 9 p.m., delays releasing results until 10 p.m.
The final statewide closures happen at 11 p.m. in California and Washington, where most voting is conducted by mail. Mail ballots postmarked by Election Day will be counted if received by November 10 in California and November 23 in Washington. In 2024, a significant share of votes in these states was counted after election night, with 90 percent of Washington’s count reached four days later and California’s after nine days.
Hawaii and most of Alaska close at midnight, and the last polls of the night close at 1 a.m. in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands. Mail and early-in-person ballots in Alaska are expected to be counted through mid-November, reflecting the state’s reliance on absentee voting.