When Will We Know the 2026 Midterm Election Results?

Americans are voting in the 2026 midterm elections today, but the country may have to wait before it knows which party will control Congress.

The first results are expected to begin coming in shortly after 6 p.m. ET, when polls start closing in parts of Indiana and Kentucky. From there, the picture should become clearer as more states finish voting throughout the evening.

But the closer the races, the longer the wait.

The United States does not have a single centralized election system. Elections are administered primarily by state and local officials, and each state sets its own rules for processing, counting and verifying ballots.

Some states begin processing early and mail ballots before Election Day. Others do not begin certain steps until polls close. That means two states with similar turnout can report results at very different speeds.

When do election results start coming in?

The first polls close at 6 p.m. ET in parts of Indiana and Kentucky.

Major waves of poll closings follow at 7 p.m., 7:30 p.m., 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. ET, bringing in results from many of the states with closely watched Senate and House contests.

2026 Election Day poll closing times

6 p.m. ET: Polls close in parts of Kentucky and Indiana.

7 p.m. ET: Polls close in Georgia, South Carolina, Vermont and Virginia. The remaining polls in Kentucky and Indiana close, along with most polling stations in Florida and New Hampshire.

7:30 p.m. ET: Polls close in North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia.

8 p.m. ET: Polls close in Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Washington, D.C. The remaining polls in Florida and New Hampshire close, along with most polling stations in Texas, Michigan, Kansas, North Dakota and South Dakota.

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

9 p.m. ET: Polls close in Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Wisconsin and Wyoming. The remaining polls in Texas, Michigan, Kansas, North Dakota and South Dakota also close.

10 p.m. ET: Polls close in Montana and Utah, along with most polling stations in Idaho and Oregon.

11 p.m. ET: Polls close in California and Washington state, along with the remaining polling stations in Idaho and Oregon.

Midnight ET: Polls close across Hawaii and most of Alaska.

1 a.m. ET: The remaining polls in Alaska close, marking the end of voting across the country.

Some states are likely to report most of their votes relatively quickly. Others may take considerably longer.

Mail-heavy states such as California and Washington can continue counting ballots for days after Election Day, while close contests elsewhere may remain unresolved if large numbers of absentee, provisional or late-arriving ballots still have to be processed.

How are winners called?

News organizations do not wait for every ballot to be counted before declaring a winner.

The Associated Press and other election decision teams analyze reported vote totals, the location of outstanding ballots and historical voting patterns to determine whether a trailing candidate still has a realistic path to victory.

The AP says it calls a race only when it is certain the trailing candidate can no longer catch the leader. That means a race can be called before 100 percent of the vote is counted.

Why can counting take so long?

Once voting ends, election officials still have to verify and process ballots before results are certified.

That can include checking voter eligibility, reviewing provisional ballots, validating mail-ballot signatures where required and conducting post-election audits.

States also have different deadlines for receiving certain mail ballots.

The result is a system designed around verification rather than instant national reporting. A slow count does not, by itself, indicate a problem with the election.

When will we know who controls Congress?

That is the larger question Tuesday night.

Republicans entered Election Day with a 218-214 advantage in the House and a 53-47 majority in the Senate. Democrats need a net gain of three House seats and four Senate seats to take control of the respective chambers.

If decisive races break clearly toward one party, control of Congress could become apparent Tuesday night or early Wednesday.

If several of the closest contests remain unresolved, the country may have to wait longer.

The Senate could be especially dependent on a small number of competitive races, while the House may hinge on contests in states where ballot counting continues beyond Election Day.