US Midterms 2026: First Results From 11pm GMT, but Full Winners May Take Days

On Tuesday evening US time, voters in the United States and audiences around the world will follow one of the most fiercely contested midterm elections in recent years. All 435 House seats and 35 of the 100 Senate seats are on the ballot, with Democrats hoping to take control of both chambers from President Donald Trump's Republicans.

When do the first results appear?

Under the schedule, the first results are expected Tuesday evening after polls begin to close. Voting sites in some parts of the East Coast close earliest, at 6pm Eastern time (11pm GMT). Results will keep updating through the evening, and some races may have to wait until Wednesday or later as states finish voting and officials begin releasing counted ballots.

However, early results do not mean a winner has been determined. Election officials release vote counts as ballots are processed, after which news organizations such as the AP analyze them to make race calls. A tight race can take hours, even days, to resolve. It may take several days before it is clear whether Republicans hold Congress or Democrats win a majority in one or both chambers.

What time do polls close?

The first polling sites close in parts of Indiana and Kentucky. The closing schedule in Eastern time (EST) and GMT is as follows:

• 6pm EST (11pm GMT): parts of Indiana and Kentucky
• 7pm EST (midnight GMT Wednesday): most of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, the rest of Indiana and Kentucky, and most of New Hampshire
• 7:30pm EST (12:30am GMT Wednesday): North Carolina, Ohio, West Virginia
• 8pm EST (1am GMT Wednesday): Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, the rest of New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Washington DC, plus parts of Florida, Kansas, Michigan, North Dakota, South Dakota and Texas
• 8:30pm EST (1:30am GMT Wednesday): Arkansas
• 9pm EST (2am GMT Wednesday): Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Wisconsin, Wyoming, plus the remaining parts of Kansas, Michigan, North Dakota, South Dakota and Texas
• 10pm EST (3am GMT Wednesday): Montana, Nevada, Utah, plus parts of Idaho and Oregon
• 11pm EST (4am GMT Wednesday): California and Washington, plus the remaining parts of Idaho and Oregon
• Midnight EST (5am GMT Wednesday): Hawaii and most of Alaska
• 1am EST (6am GMT Wednesday): the rest of Alaska, including the western Aleutian Islands

Which states may take longer to count?

• Alaska: The state uses ranked-choice voting. If no candidate tops 50 percent, additional counting rounds are needed to determine the winner. In-person early votes and Election Day votes are released on election night, while mailed ballots are reported in the following days. In 2024, about 75 percent of ballots were counted by the next morning, with the rest released over subsequent days.
• California: The state conducts mostly mail-in elections. Many large batches of ballots arrive and are verified in the days after polls close, so close House races can take days or weeks to resolve.
• Arizona: In some counties, voters drop off mail ballots on Election Day itself. Those ballots must go through signature verification before counting, which can delay results in tight races by several days.
• Nevada: Every registered voter is sent a mail ballot. Ballots postmarked by Election Day can arrive up to four days later. Voters also have six days after the election to fix signature problems, which can push results into the following week.
• Maine: Like Alaska, the state uses ranked-choice voting. If no candidate tops 50 percent in a two-candidate race, ballots must be shipped to Augusta, the state capital, for further counting, potentially slowing the final result.
• Washington: The state votes by mail. Ballots postmarked by Election Day can be counted in the following days, causing delays.

Which states may report results sooner?

• Florida: Ballots are usually counted quickly. In the 2024 election, about 99 percent of ballots were counted by 10:51pm EST (3:51am GMT the next day), according to the AP.
• Ohio: The state tends to release all or nearly all early and mail ballots in its first batch of results. In 2024, the first results came at 7:36pm EST (12:36am GMT), six minutes after polls closed. By 11:03pm EST (4:03am GMT), 90 percent of results were in.
• North Carolina: The East Coast state is also expected to report most mail ballots in the first update of the night. In 2024, it reached 90 percent reported at 11:36pm EST (4:36am GMT).
• Pennsylvania: In 2024, the first results came as polls closed at 8pm EST (1am GMT). Half of ballots were reported at 10:12pm EST (3:12am GMT), rising to 90 percent at 12:48am EST (5:48am GMT) the next day.
• Wisconsin: In 2024, 90 percent of the state's ballots were reported at 2:22am (7:22am GMT) on November 6.

So when will we know who won?

Many races may be called on election night, but it could take days to learn which party controls the House and Senate for the final two years of President Trump's term. For example, if the Alaska Senate race requires ranked-choice counting, the next round is expected on November 18.

There is therefore no fixed deadline for the full results. In races that are not close, news organizations may declare winners long before every ballot is counted, while official certification comes later. A fast release of results therefore does not mean a winner will be determined early. In 2024, it took eight days to determine which party controlled the House.

What happens if results are contested?

If a race is extremely close, a recount can be triggered automatically or at a candidate's request, depending on state law. Candidates can also take results to court, which can likewise slow the final outcome.

President Trump has previously questioned whether he would accept midterm election results. Asked whether he would respect the final outcome, he said: "I will do that if there are honest elections." However, a US president cannot overturn congressional election results simply because he disagrees with them. Elections are run and certified by individual states, and legal challenges must follow a set process.

"All elections are run by the states. The courts accept that the states run elections," Democratic strategist Mali Smith told Al Jazeera.

Under the US Constitution, the House and Senate have the final authority to judge disputes involving the elections of their own members. Depending on how disputed a race is, recounts and legal challenges can take days, weeks or longer to resolve.