Polling places will close at different times across the United States on Election Day for the 2026 midterm elections. The first locations are scheduled to close at 6 p.m. Eastern Time, while the final Alaska polls are set to close at 1 a.m. ET. Voters are deciding local contests as well as races for offices including governor and senator.
According to the schedule reported by CBS News, polls close at 7 p.m. ET in Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Vermont and Virginia. At 7:30 p.m., locations close in North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia. The 8 p.m. group includes Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. Arkansas follows at 8:30 p.m.
Polls are scheduled to close at 9 p.m. ET in Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Most of Texas is scheduled to close an hour earlier. At 10 p.m., polling ends in Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota and Utah. California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington close at 11 p.m., followed by Hawaii at midnight and Alaska at 1 a.m.
The earliest results may be reported this evening as polling places close, with further returns released as election offices process and count ballots. The Associated Press and other news organizations rely on election returns and verified information before projecting winners. Races with clear margins could be called early, while close contests may take longer as additional ballots are counted or recounts are needed.
Votebeat’s 2026 election results guide notes that state election laws, ballot-counting procedures and available resources can affect how quickly results are reported.
Sources: Just Jared.