2026 Poll Closing Times, State by State
| Polls close (ET) | States closing at this hour |
|---|---|
| 6:00 pm | IN*, KY* |
| 7:00 pm | FL*, GA, SC, VT, VA, IN*, KY* |
| 7:30 pm | NC, OH, WV |
| 8:00 pm | AL, CT, DE, DC, FL*, IL, KS*, ME, MD, MA, MI*, MS, MO, NH, NJ, OK, PA, RI, SD*, TN, TX* |
| 8:30 pm | AR |
| 9:00 pm | AZ, CO, IA, KS*, LA, MI*, MN, NE*, NM, NY, SD*, TX*, WI, WY |
| 10:00 pm | ID*, MT, NV, ND*, OR*, UT |
| 11:00 pm | CA, ID*, ND*, OR*, WA |
| 12:00 am | AK, HI |
| 1:00 am | AK* (Aleutian Islands) |
Election night is a wave, not a switch. Polls close in one Eastern-time tranche after another for seven hours, which is why networks can call some states minutes after 6:00 pm and why others stay green until past midnight. The chart above lines up every closing time for Tuesday, November 3, 2026 in one table, with two-time-zone states listed once per time-zone portion so each row is exactly true for the area it names.
Bottom line: the wave starts at 6:00 pm ET in Kentucky and Indiana's eastern districts and ends 1:00 am ET in the Aleutian Islands, where it is still 9:00 pm Tuesday. The single biggest hour is 8:00 pm ET, when 21 jurisdictions close at once — roughly 40 percent of the map — including the whole 7:00 pm Central belt from Texas to the Dakotas.
Read the table the way commentators do: the 6:00 and 7:00 pm rows rarely decide anything (few electoral votes, and Indiana and Kentucky split their tickets in every recent cycle), the 8:00 pm hour is where the night's first real shape appears, and the 11:00 pm Pacific row plus the 12:00 am Alaska-Hawaii hour is where long counts drag. States that count mail ballots early look completely different from states that start late — same closing time, opposite first report.
One honesty note: several western states set polling hours by administrative rule rather than statute, and the reference data marks those hours 'reportedly'. The chart keeps that caveat; treat the late rows as the standing schedule and confirm with your state before you plan anything around them.
How to use
- Find your state's abbreviation in the row matching its closing hour; a starred state appears once per time zone it spans.
- Convert to your own clock if you are outside the East: subtract 1 hour for Central, 2 for Mountain, 3 for Pacific.
- Copy the table for your watch party or share it straight to your group chat before the first polls close.
Frequently asked questions
Which states close their polls first in 2026?
Kentucky and Indiana at 6:00 pm Eastern — and only the portions of those states in the Eastern zone close then; their Central-time districts hold until 7:00 pm. That split is why early Kentucky exits are a poor predictor: the 6:00 pm counties lean different from the state. The US Virgin Islands also closes at 6:00 pm ET, though it has no federal races on the ballot.
Why is everything listed in Eastern time?
Because election night is covered nationally on Eastern time — every network call, every hourly projection. The table keeps one clock so the wave order is the real chronology of the night; local closing times vary but the sequence never changes. Convert once for your own zone and every row shifts by the same amount.
What are the very last polls to close?
The Aleutian Islands west of the Alaska time-zone line, at 1:00 am ET (9:00 pm Tuesday local). Hawaii and most of Alaska close an hour earlier at midnight ET. If a count is still undecided after the Aleutians close, the remaining delay is counting, not voting.
Do poll closing times ever change?
They change slowly, but they do change — states occasionally move hours by legislation or rule, and the 'reportedly' rows in western states are precisely the ones where hours live in administrative code. The chart reflects the standing 2026 schedule; a same-year change would come from a court order or emergency rule, which is always announced locally.