Election Day 2026: When do polls close and key races you may want to watch

It is the day that will determine the balance of power of the Federal government, but what races should you be tracking and when can you expect to see results?

The polls start closing at 6 p.m. ET in most of Indiana and Kentucky. The rest of those states close at 7 p.m. ET. The last polls will close at 1 a.m. in the Aleutian Islands off of Alaska, The Washington Post reported.

The newspaper noted that while many races will be won on election night, the results may take days or even weeks.

As for when the results will be released, it depends on the state. The Associated Press said that in 2024, Kansas, Michigan and Texas released votes in the 8 p.m. hour local time, while Iowa, Nebraska, New York and Wisconsin were about halfway done by 10 p.m. Kansas and Texas hit 90% in the midnight hour, while Michigan hit 90% at 4:50 a.m. Arizona doesn’t release vote counts until 10 p.m., about an hour after polls close.

You can track the totals here:

Key races

The New York Times has said the following races will be the key ones to watch as the results come in:

For the Senate, six states are likely to determine which party controls the upper chamber, the Times said: Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Ohio and Texas. Many are also watching Michigan and South Carolina closely, CNN reported.

There are 35 Senate seats up for election this year, ABC News reported.

On the other side of the Capitol, the entire House is up for election.

For the House, the Times is watching 36 districts. Ballotpedia is tracking 50 races, or about 12%, as those it considers in need of watching. Those include seats in Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.

Finally, there are a handful of governor races that Ballotpedia calls battleground races, including Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio, and Wisconsin.

0 of 32

©2026 Cox Media Group