Polls close from 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Nov. 3, but control of Congress may not be settled that night. All 435 House seats, 35 Senate seats and 39 governorships are on the ballot, and Reuters expects more than 100 million people to vote.
The margins are tight. Republicans hold a narrow House majority and a 53-47 Senate majority, and Democrats need a net gain of four seats in each chamber to take over. Reuters lists Maine, Ohio, North Carolina, Iowa and Georgia among 10 Senate races that could decide it.
| Eastern time (clocks fell back Sunday) | Polls close in |
|---|---|
| 6 p.m. | Parts of Indiana and Kentucky |
| 7 p.m. | Georgia, most of Florida, South Carolina, Virginia, Vermont |
| 7:30 p.m. | North Carolina, Ohio, West Virginia |
| 8 p.m. | Pennsylvania, most of Michigan and Texas, and a large wave of other states |
| 11 p.m. | California, Washington |
| 1 a.m. Wednesday | Alaska, the last polls |
Will we know the winner Tuesday night? Maybe not. News organizations call races, relying on the Associated Press, and close contests take longer. The AP called the House for Democrats on election night in 2018, while the narrower 2022 result took longer. Everything reported Tuesday is unofficial.
Why does California take so long? Many voters hold their mail ballots until Election Day, NPR reports, so a huge pile arrives that officials can’t process overnight. California counts ballots postmarked by Nov. 3 if they arrive by Nov. 10.
Is California the only slow state? No. Fourteen states accept late-arriving mail ballots, with windows ranging from one day in Texas to 21 days in Washington, according to the R Street Institute. Alaska also counts slowly, and NPR says a tight Senate race there could leave the country waiting weeks for the answer on Senate control, depending on how other races fall.
When does my polling place close? Each state sets its own hours, so check with your state election office.
The money behind all of it is at record levels too: midterm ad spending has topped $10 billion.
