Voters across the United States are casting ballots in person for the 2026 midterm elections on Tuesday, Nov. 3. Polling hours vary significantly by state, with the first locations opening as early as 5 a.m. ET and the final sites closing as late as 1 a.m. ET.
The 2026 midterms follow a period where 47 states and the District of Columbia offered early voting options. According to reported figures, over 57 million voters cast their ballots ahead of the Tuesday election. Alabama, Mississippi, and New Hampshire were the only three states that did not offer early voting for this cycle. Additionally, eight states and Washington, D.C., utilize a system where mail-in ballots are automatically sent to every registered voter.
Poll opening times began at 5 a.m. ET in Vermont, followed by a block of states at 6 a.m. ET including New York and Virginia. The latest openings occurred in Hawaii at 12 p.m. ET. For closing times, the earliest polls finished at 6 p.m. ET in parts of Indiana and Kentucky. The majority of states see their polls close between 7 p.m. ET and 9 p.m. ET, while West Coast and Alaska polls remain open until late evening and early morning hours.
The scale of this event includes voters in jurisdictions ranging from Vermont, where polls opened at 5 a.m. ET, to Alaska, where some polls do not close until 1 a.m. ET. The automatic mail-in ballot systems in eight states and D.C. represent a shift in how a segment of the population interacts with the voting process, though these individuals still retain the option to vote in person. For those voting on Nov. 3, the concrete experience involves arriving at specific precincts during windows that may be as short as 12 hours or as long as 15 hours depending on state law.
The results of these midterm elections will influence the composition of legislative bodies and future policy directions. States will begin the process of reporting election results immediately after their respective polls close. For states like Indiana and Kentucky, this reporting may begin as early as 6 p.m. ET, while results from the Pacific Northwest and Alaska will not be fully processed until well after midnight. Following the conclusion of voting, election officials will move into the tabulation phase to finalize the outcomes of the 2026 cycle.