Election Day 2026 live guide: poll closing times, key races, results

Americans vote today, Tuesday, Nov. 3, in midterm elections that will decide who controls the U.S. House and Senate for the final two years of President Donald Trump's term. Trump is not on the ballot. Voters will choose all 435 House members, 35 of the 100 senators, and governors in 36 states, along with three U.S. territories, according to Fox News. More than 140 statewide ballot measures are also up for a vote. As of this publication, no results have been called in any race.

This guide explains when polls close in each state, which races are expected to be closest, what is at stake, and how and when results usually arrive. For a longer overview of the Senate map, see NewsCubby's election eve guide to Senate races and poll closing times.

When do polls close, in Eastern time?

All times below are Eastern. Clocks went back on Sunday, Nov. 1, so Eastern Standard Time applies. Several states span two time zones, and in some of them polling places close at different moments. Individual polling places may close earlier or later than the statewide time, so voters should confirm hours with their county election office.

• 6 p.m.: Eastern-time parts of Indiana and Kentucky.
• 7 p.m.: Georgia, South Carolina, Vermont and Virginia; most of Florida; most of New Hampshire; and the Central-time parts of Indiana and Kentucky.
• 7:30 p.m.: North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia.
• 8 p.m.: Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Washington, D.C. Also the Florida Panhandle, some New Hampshire towns, and most of Texas, Michigan, Kansas, North Dakota and South Dakota.
• 8:30 p.m.: Arkansas.
• 9 p.m.: Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Wisconsin and Wyoming. This is also when the last polls close in Texas (the El Paso area), Michigan (a few Upper Peninsula counties), Kansas (a small area on the Colorado border) and South Dakota (Mountain-time areas). By this hour, polls in every state east of the Mississippi River have closed, according to Decision Desk HQ.
• 10 p.m.: Montana, Nevada and Utah; most of Idaho; and Malheur County, Oregon.
• 11 p.m.: California and Washington; the rest of Oregon; and the Pacific-time part of northern Idaho.
• Midnight: Hawaii and nearly all of Alaska.
• 1 a.m. Wednesday: the western Aleutian Islands in Alaska, the final polls in the country.

New Hampshire towns set their own closing times, mostly 7 p.m. but some at 8 p.m. Times for a few states, including Rhode Island, Utah and Wisconsin, vary slightly among published guides, so voters there should confirm hours with local officials.

What is at stake in the Senate?

Republicans hold the Senate 53-47. Because Vice President JD Vance casts tie-breaking votes, Republicans need to hold 50 seats to keep control. That means Democrats need a net gain of four seats to win a majority. The Fox News Power Rankings rate control of the chamber a toss-up, with Democrats favored in 48 seats and Republicans in 47. Fox says the range of outcomes runs from as many as 54 Democratic seats to as many as 52 Republican seats.

The closest races, with candidates as listed by Fox News, are:

• Georgia (polls close 7 p.m.): Sen. Jon Ossoff (D) against Mike Collins (R). Decision Desk HQ lists Democrats as favored.
• South Carolina (7 p.m.): Sen. Lindsey Graham (R) against Annie Andrews (D). Fox rates it a toss-up.
• Ohio (7:30 p.m.): Sen. Jon Husted (R, incumbent) against Sherrod Brown (D). Fox rates it Lean Democratic.
• North Carolina (7:30 p.m.): Roy Cooper (D) is on the ballot, according to Decision Desk HQ.
• Maine (8 p.m.): Sen. Susan Collins (R) against Troy Jackson (D). Fox rates it a toss-up. Maine uses ranked-choice voting, which can slow the final outcome.
• Michigan (8 p.m. in most counties): Mike Rogers (R) against Abdul El-Sayed (D) for the open seat of retiring Sen. Gary Peters. It is the one toss-up that Democrats are defending.
• Texas (8 p.m. in most counties): Ken Paxton (R) against James Talarico (D) for the seat held by outgoing Sen. John Cornyn. Fox rates it a toss-up.
• Kansas (8 p.m. in most counties): rated Lean Republican by Fox.
• Iowa (9 p.m.): Ashley Hinson (R) against Josh Turek (D) for the open seat of retiring Sen. Joni Ernst. Fox rates it a toss-up.
• Alaska (midnight): Sen. Dan Sullivan (R) against Mary Peltola (D). Fox rates it a toss-up.
• Florida special election (7 p.m.): Sen. Ashley Moody (R, appointed incumbent) against Angie Nixon (D). Decision Desk HQ lists Florida as Republican-favored.

Minnesota and New Hampshire, both seats held by Democrats, are rated Lean Democratic by Fox.

Alaska has a legal dispute running alongside the vote. On Sunday, U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason dismissed a Justice Department lawsuit that sought to block certification of the Senate race if Sen. Dan Sullivan loses, over ballots cast for a second candidate named Dan Sullivan, the Associated Press reported. The judge found the federal government lacked standing, and the department quickly filed notice that it will appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. NewsCubby has more in its story on the judge's dismissal of the DOJ's Alaska ballot lawsuit. The Alaska count is also expected to run long, as explained below.

What about the House, governors and ballot measures?

House: Republicans hold a razor-thin majority, and 218 seats are needed for control. Fox's Power Rankings point to Democrats retaking the chamber, with a good Democratic night reaching as many as 240 seats and a good Republican night leaving the GOP at about 212, six short of a majority. Fox identifies Kentucky's 6th District, around Lexington, as the earliest-closing bellwether. Trump won it by 15 points in the last presidential election, but Fox says it looks close this year. Decision Desk HQ also points to Indiana's 5th District at 6 p.m., Virginia's 2nd and Florida's 14th and 25th at 7 p.m., North Carolina's 1st (Rep. Don Davis) and Ohio's 9th (Rep. Marcy Kaptur) at 7:30 p.m., competitive Pennsylvania seats at 8 p.m., and Montana's 1st at 10 p.m. At 11 p.m., California's five Republican-held seats that Democrats targeted in redistricting come into view.

Governors: Republicans hold 26 governorships and Democrats 24. Fox rates Alaska, Nevada and Georgia (all Republican-held) and Wisconsin (open, Democratic-held) as toss-ups. Key matchups include:

• Georgia: Rick Jackson (R) against Keisha Lance Bottoms (D), for the open seat of term-limited Gov. Brian Kemp.
• Ohio: Vivek Ramaswamy (R) against Amy Acton (D), for the open seat of term-limited Gov. Mike DeWine.
• Michigan: Jocelyn Benson (D) against John James (R).
• Texas: Gov. Greg Abbott (R) against Gina Hinojosa (D).
• Wisconsin: Tom Tiffany (R) against David Crowley (D), for the open seat of Gov. Tony Evers.
• Iowa: Rob Sand (D) against Zach Lahn (R).
• Nevada: Gov. Joe Lombardo (R) against Aaron Ford (D).
• Florida: Byron Donalds (R) against David Jolly (D).

Ballot measures: Fox counts 145 statewide measures. Voter ID or noncitizen-voting measures are on the ballot in 11 states: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Kansas, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, South Dakota and West Virginia. Alaskans vote on repealing ranked-choice voting and open primaries. Missouri voters decide whether to repeal abortion rights, Idaho has an initiative to overturn one of the nation's strictest abortion bans, and Virginia and Nevada vote on adding abortion rights to their state constitutions. California's Proposition 40 would impose a one-time 5% tax on wealth above $1 billion, mostly for health care. Washington voters decide a referendum on a 9.9% tax on income above $1 million. Maryland, Missouri and Colorado have redistricting measures.

When do results usually arrive?

Results begin to appear within minutes of the first poll closings, but a full picture takes hours, and in some places days. No state posts mail-ballot results before polls close, according to a PolitiFact analysis published by PBS News. Early ballots are often counted first, according to Votebeat's Arizona guide, so early returns can lean one way and shift as Election Day votes are added.

Some places are known for slower counts:

• Arizona: The first batch of results is expected about an hour after polls close, which is around 10 p.m. Eastern (8 p.m. Mountain), according to Votebeat. Ballots dropped off on or just before Election Day are tallied in the days after, with new batches usually reported daily. Voters have until Sunday, Nov. 8, to fix signature problems, and counties must finish their canvass by Nov. 19.
• Michigan: Absentee ballots must arrive by 8 p.m. on Election Day. Detroit officials expect to report about 95% of ballots on election night and aim to finish by 4 a.m., PolitiFact reported.
• Alaska: The state accepts ballots mailed from outside the country for 15 days after Election Day. Races there can take a week or two to settle.
• California: Ballots postmarked by Election Day can arrive up to a week later. Counties must count and report most ballots by the 13th day after the election, and some races may not be called for days.
• Maine: If no candidate wins more than 50% of first-choice votes, ranked-choice tabulation begins. The state decides within a day or two whether to proceed, and past outcomes have been known the week after the election.
• Florida: It often completes most unofficial counts faster than other states, PolitiFact noted, and slower counts elsewhere are not by themselves a sign of fraud.

Margins matter. In Arizona, a race decided by half a percentage point or less triggers an automatic recount, which can take several weeks. Election night totals are unofficial. States set certification deadlines, often weeks later, and a candidate who trails early can pull ahead as more ballots are counted.

How can you follow results, and what counts as a call?

A race is considered decided when The Associated Press or a major news organization's decision desk calls it. AP race calls are the standard most newsrooms rely on. The AP says it declares a winner only when there is no circumstance in which the trailing candidate can catch up, which can happen soon after polls close or days later. It labels races "too early to call" when many votes remain and "too close to call" when no clear winner emerges even after most ballots are counted. Networks run their own decision desks too. Fox News Channel's coverage begins at 6 p.m. Eastern, and its Decision Desk will make race calls for House, Senate and governor contests.

A few practical tips for tonight:

• Treat early numbers as partial. The share of votes counted matters as much as who is ahead.
• Look at which votes are outstanding, such as mail ballots or a particular county.
• Rely on official state and county election websites for raw totals, and on AP or network calls for who has won. Totals on government sites and media sites can differ slightly in timing.
• Expect Senate and House control to be projected only when enough individual races are called. If several contests are close, that could take until later in the week or longer.

For the full national picture before polls close, read NewsCubby's overview of how control of Congress is on the line.

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*ARCHIVE PHOTO: An "I Voted" sticker, photographed in May 2014. Not from Election Day 2026. Photo: Dwight Burdette / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 3.0.*

*NewsCubby articles are produced with AI assistance and reviewed by humans.*