When do polls close on November 3? The first ones shut at 6 p.m. Eastern time in parts of Indiana and Kentucky, and the last close at 1 a.m. Eastern on November 4 in Alaska’s far western islands. Most states finish voting between 7 and 9 p.m. Eastern. Below is the full timetable, converted for readers in London, Paris and Pakistan.
Key facts (as of October 2026)
- The first polls close at 6 p.m. ET on November 3, 2026, which is 23:00 GMT in the UK, according to The Green Papers’ polling hours list.
- US daylight saving time ends on November 1, so Election Day runs on standard time (ET is UTC−5).
- NPR reported on October 19 that no state finishes counting on election night, even when races are called early.
US midterms: Tuesday, November 3, 2026
When do polls close in each state?
Polls usually close at the same local time across a state. However, states that span two time zones often close in two waves. The table below groups states by their closing hour in Eastern time, based on The Green Papers' 2026 list, and converts each hour for overseas readers.
| ET (Nov 3) | UK (GMT) | Paris/Berlin (CET) | Pakistan (PKT) | States |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6:00 p.m. | 23:00 | 00:00 Nov 4 | 04:00 Nov 4 | Most of Indiana and Kentucky |
| 7:00 p.m. | 00:00 Nov 4 | 01:00 | 05:00 | Georgia, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, most of Florida, western Indiana and Kentucky |
| 7:30 p.m. | 00:30 | 01:30 | 05:30 | North Carolina, Ohio, West Virginia |
| 8:00 p.m. | 01:00 | 02:00 | 06:00 | Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, D.C., Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, most of Texas and Michigan, the Florida Panhandle |
| 8:30 p.m. | 01:30 | 02:30 | 06:30 | Arkansas |
| 9:00 p.m. | 02:00 | 03:00 | 07:00 | Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Wisconsin, Wyoming, El Paso area of Texas |
| 10:00 p.m. | 03:00 | 04:00 | 08:00 | Montana, Nevada, Utah, southern Idaho |
| 11:00 p.m. | 04:00 | 05:00 | 09:00 | California, Oregon, Washington, northern Idaho |
| 12:00 a.m. Nov 4 | 05:00 | 06:00 | 10:00 | Hawaii, most of Alaska |
| 1:00 a.m. Nov 4 | 06:00 | 07:00 | 11:00 | Alaska's western Aleutian Islands |
A few counties and towns follow their own rules, and lists from different outlets can vary by an hour for split states. So if you are voting, check the hours for your own polling place with your state election office. Anyone already in line when polls close can still vote.
When do polls close in the battleground Senate states?
The races that could decide the Senate close at different times, so control may not be clear for hours. Here is how the four toss-ups in Decision Desk HQ's ratings line up:
- Ohio: 7:30 p.m. ET (00:30 GMT).
- Maine and most of Texas: 8 p.m. ET (01:00 GMT).
- Iowa: 9 p.m. ET (02:00 GMT).
Michigan, rated Lean Democratic, closes mostly at 8 p.m. ET. Alaska, also Lean Democratic, is among the very last, at midnight ET or later.
Why are some results so slow?
A race is called by news decision desks once the remaining ballots cannot change the outcome. As a result, lopsided races are called within minutes, while close ones wait. "Margins matter," former Maricopa County recorder Stephen Richer, a Republican, told NPR.
Counting speed is the other factor. California is the classic example, because some of its counties receive up to half of their mail ballots on Election Day itself, according to NPR. Each envelope must be opened and its signature checked. Arizona has also faced long counts; Richer said more than a million ballots were waiting in Maricopa County on one past election night.
Alaska is slow too. In 2024, its House race was not called until November 20, fifteen days after the vote. Maine and Alaska also use ranked-choice voting, which can add extra counting rounds if no candidate tops 50% at first.
What can early returns tell you?
Not much on their own. The first numbers are often early or mail ballots, which can lean toward one party, and Election Day votes may lean the other way. For instance, an ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll found mail voters favoring Democrats and Election Day voters favoring Republicans. So a lead at 9 p.m. can shrink or grow by midnight.
For the latest odds before the count starts, see our midterm forecast tracker.
How to watch election night live
Network coverage starts in the early evening Eastern time and runs through the night. Our guide to watching the midterm results live covers the free and paid options. For uninterrupted coverage, there is the C-SPAN live stream. In Europe, see our guide to following the US midterms from the UK and Europe, or check how to watch BBC News live and Sky News live.
See also: which states count slowly, and why.
Coming soon: the NewsLive streaming app. We're building one subscription for live international news on Android, Roku, Fire TV and desktop. The service is under development — follow NewsLive for launch updates.
See also: the four-hour transatlantic gap before November 1.
Frequently asked questions
When do polls close in New York and California?
New York closes at 9 p.m. ET (02:00 GMT). California closes at 8 p.m. Pacific time, which is 11 p.m. ET (04:00 GMT).
What time will the first results come in for UK viewers?
Indiana and Kentucky close at 23:00 GMT on November 3. Their first counts and race calls usually follow within the next hour.
When will we know who controls Congress?
Possibly overnight, but not if several key races are close. In that case it can take days, especially if California House seats or the Alaska Senate race matter. More explainers are in our Elections section.
