Election night agenda: When polls close and when to expect results

WASHINGTON (AP) — With voters deciding thousands of races across the country on Tuesday, keeping track of which races to watch throughout the night — and when to expect results — can get tricky.

Here's a rundown of the biggest races hour by hour, along with some clues as to how long it will take to count the votes .

All times are in Eastern Standard Time.

The first polls of the night will close in most of Indiana and Kentucky , but no statewide winners will be declared in either state until the last polls close at 7 p.m. It’s possible to see winners declared in the states’ easternmost congressional districts.

Key contests in this hour include competitive U.S. House races in Indiana's 5th and Kentucky's 6th congressional districts.

All polls close at 7 p.m. in six states, including Georgia , South Carolina and Virginia , which tend to complete almost all of their vote counting on election night. In the 2024 general election, the vote count in all three states reached the halfway mark in the 8 p.m. hour. The counts were 90% complete at 10:21 p.m. in Georgia, 11:14 p.m. in South Carolina and 12:07 a.m. in Virginia. In Georgia’s competitive presidential contest, The Associated Press declared Republican Donald Trump the winner at 12:58 a.m.

Most Florida polls will also close at 7 p.m., including in every competitive congressional district, but no statewide winners will be declared until polls in the Central Time Zone close at 8 p.m.

Polls in North Carolina , Ohio and West Virginia close at 7:30 p.m. All three states also count votes relatively quickly, reaching the halfway point at around 9 p.m. in 2024 and about 90% in the 11 p.m. hour. The AP declared a winner in Ohio’s competitive 2024 U.S. Senate race at 11:27 p.m.

Some key contests to watch in this hour are U.S. Senate races in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Ohio; gubernatorial races in Georgia and Ohio; and U.S. House races in Florida, Indiana, South Carolina, Virginia, Ohio and North Carolina.

The 8 p.m. hour is primetime on election night, with polls fully or partially closing in almost half the states, including key states like Florida, Maine , New Hampshire and Pennsylvania .

Florida tends to have one of the faster counts in this time slot, since results in most of the state start releasing in the 7 p.m. hour. In 2024, the Florida vote count was 90% complete by 8:07 p.m.

The 2024 vote counts in New Hampshire and Pennsylvania reached the halfway mark at 10:12 p.m. They reached 90% at 12:48 a.m. in Pennsylvania and 1:42 a.m. in New Hampshire.

Maine didn’t reach the halfway mark in 2024 until 12:54 a.m.

Polls in almost all of Michigan and Texas close at 8 p.m., including in the states’ most competitive congressional districts, but no statewide winners will be declared until the final polls have closed at 9 p.m.

Polls close at 8:30 p.m. in Arkansas .

Some key contests to watch in this hour are U.S. Senate races in Florida, Maine and New Hampshire; gubernatorial races in Florida and Pennsylvania; and U.S. House races in Alabama, Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey , Pennsylvania and Texas.

This is election night’s other big logjam, with all polls closing in 15 states, including the midterm battlegrounds of Arizona , Iowa , Kansas , Michigan , Minnesota , Nebraska , New York , Texas and Wisconsin .

The 2024 general election vote counts in Iowa, Nebraska, New York and Wisconsin all reached the halfway mark roughly in the 10 p.m. hour, while Minnesota reached 50% of all votes counted at 11:29 p.m. Iowa and New York completed 90% of the count just before midnight, while Minnesota, Nebraska and Wisconsin reached 90% early the next day between 2 and 3:30 a.m.

Kansas, Michigan and Texas all begin releasing votes in the 8 p.m. hour, but Michigan trailed the other two in the 2024 vote count. Kansas and Texas reached 90% counted during the midnight hour, while Michigan didn’t reach that threshold until 4:50 a.m.

Although polls close in Arizona at 9 p.m., the state does not begin releasing results until 10 p.m.

Some key contests to watch in this hour are U.S. Senate races in Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Nebraska and Texas; gubernatorial races in Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York, Texas and Wisconsin; and U.S. House races in Arizona, Colorado , Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico , New York and Wisconsin.

Polls close at 10 p.m. in Montana , Nevada and Utah , with some polls closing in the eastern portions of Idaho and Oregon.

Key contests to watch in this hour include U.S. House races in Montana, Nevada and Utah and congressional and gubernatorial races in Arizona, where polls close at 9 p.m. but results are held until 10 p.m.

All polls close at 11 p.m. in California and Washington , as well as the remaining polls in Idaho and Oregon .

Elections in California and Washington are conducted primarily by mail. Mail ballots postmarked by Election Day will be counted if received by Nov. 10 in California and Nov. 23 in Washington.

In the 2024 general election, about 38% of the vote in California and about 33% of the vote in Washington was not counted on election night. The count reached 90% in Washington by Nov. 9, four days after Election Day, and in California by Nov. 14, nine days after Election Day.

Some key contests to watch in this hour are California governor, California’s Proposition 40 and U.S. House races in California and Washington.

Polls close in Hawaii and almost all of Alaska at midnight. The final polls of the 2026 midterms close at 1 a.m. in the Aleutian Islands, home of Alaska’s westernmost polling location.

In Alaska in 2024, about 25% of the total vote was not counted on election night. The bulk of the state's mail voting results aren’t expected before Nov. 18, the deadline to receive overseas and military ballots. Mail and early in-person ballots comprised about 35% of the total vote in 2022 and about 45% in 2024.

Key contests to watch include the Senate and House races in Alaska.

Follow the AP's coverage of the 2026 midterm elections at https://apnews.com/hub/elections .