US midterm results 2026: When will winners be declared? All you need to know about vote counting

US midterm election results 2026: Check poll closing times, vote counting updates and when winners of House and Senate races will be declared.

The United States is holding one of its closely watched midterm elections, with all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 35 of the 100 Senate seats up for election. Democrats are trying to take control of the House and Senate from President Donald Trump's Republican Party.

US midterm elections 2026: Polling stations close at different times across states as vote counting begins. (AFP)

The first results are expected after polling stations begin closing on Tuesday evening. However, the first vote counts will not necessarily tell us who has won a particular race.

Some polling stations in Indiana and Kentucky will be the first to close at 6 pm EST. More polling stations will close across different states during the evening. Vote counts will continue to come in throughout Tuesday night and into Wednesday, as noted by Aljazeera.

Deep Dive

When will the winners of the 2026 US midterm elections be declared?

Why could final US midterm results take days or weeks?

Are early US midterm election results and news calls official?

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Some races may take several days to produce a clear result because election officials need time to count and verify ballots. Therefore, voters may know the early results on Tuesday night, but the final outcome of some closely contested races may take longer.

US midterm election results 2026: When will counting begin?

Election officials release vote counts as ballots are processed. News organisations, including The Associated Press (AP), study the reported results to decide whether there are enough votes to declare a winner. A candidate may be leading in the early vote count without having officially won the race.

Here is the complete schedule of polling station closures in Eastern Standard Time (EST) and Greenwich Mean Time (GMT):

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

The following six states could take longer to report their final results:

Alaska

• Alaska uses a ranked-choice voting system to decide the winner in certain elections.
• Under this system, voters rank candidates in order of preference.
• If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, additional rounds of counting are required to identify the winner.
• In-person early votes and Election Day votes are reported on election night, but mail-in voting results are released over the following days.
• If the 2026 Senate race in Alaska requires another round of ranked-choice counting, the next round is scheduled for November 18, according to Al Jazeera.

California

• California conducts most of its elections through mail-in voting.
• Large batches of mail-in ballots may arrive and undergo verification several days after polling stations close.
• This could delay the results of closely contested House races by several days or even weeks.

Arizona

• In some Arizona counties, voters can drop off their mail-in ballots on Election Day.
• These ballots must go through signature checks before they can be counted.
• This verification process can take additional time.

Nevada

• Nevada sends mail-in ballots to all registered voters.
• Mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day can arrive up to four days later.
• Voters also have six days after Election Day to correct problems with their ballot signatures.
• These additional days for receiving and verifying ballots could delay the final results until the following week.

Maine

• Like Alaska, Maine uses ranked-choice voting in certain elections.
• If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote in a race with two candidates, additional counting is required.
• Ballots must be taken to Augusta, the state capital, for further counting.

Washington

• Washington conducts its elections by mail.
• Ballots postmarked by Election Day can still arrive and be counted over the following days.
• This means the initial results may not include every valid vote.
• Closely contested races could therefore take longer to settle.

The following five states could provide an early picture of the results:

Florida

• Florida generally counts votes quickly.
• During the 2024 general election, about 99% of the votes had been counted by 10:51 pm EST (3:51 am GMT on the following day).
• This data was reported by The Associated Press news agency.

Ohio

• Ohio usually includes most of its early and absentee voting results in its first vote-count update.
• During the 2024 election, the first results were reported at 7:36 pm EST (12:36 am GMT on Wednesday), just six minutes after polling stations closed.
• By 11:03 pm EST (4:03 am GMT on Wednesday), about 90% of the votes had been reported.

North Carolina

• North Carolina is also expected to include most of its mail-in voting results in the first update of the night.
• During the 2024 election, about 90% of the votes had been reported by 11:36 pm EST (4:36 am GMT on Wednesday).

Pennsylvania

• During the 2024 election, the first results from Pennsylvania came in as polling stations closed at 8 pm EST (1 am GMT on Wednesday).
• About 50% of the votes had been reported by 10:12 pm EST (3:12 am GMT).
• The reported vote count reached 90% by 12:48 am EST (5:48 am GMT on Wednesday).

Wisconsin

• During the 2024 election, about 90% of the voting results in Wisconsin had been released by 2:22 am EST (7:22 am GMT on November 6).
• This gives an indication of how quickly the state has reported a large share of its votes in the past.

When will US midterm election winners be declared?

There is no fixed deadline for declaring all the winners of the 2026 US midterm elections. Several election races could have clear winners on Tuesday night itself. However, closely contested races may take several days to settle, as noted by Aljazeera.

US midterm results: Can recounts and legal challenges delay winners?

Recounts and legal challenges could delay the final results further. If the difference between two candidates is very small, a recount may be required. Candidates can also challenge election results in court. These recounts and legal cases could delay the final outcome by several days, weeks or even longer.