When US Midterm Polls Open and Close, Hour by Hour in GMT

Voting in the 2026 US midterm elections starts on Tuesday in Vermont, where the first polls are set to open at 5am local time, or 10:00 GMT, according to Al Jazeera. Polling then begins across the country over several hours, and voting runs into early Wednesday in GMT. Congressional elections in the United States take place every two years, and the midterms are the contests for Congress.

Polls in New Jersey, Virginia, Connecticut and Kentucky open at 6am local time (11:00 GMT). Georgia, Florida, Pennsylvania and New York open between 6am and 7am local time, which is 11:00 to 12:00 GMT. Ohio and North Carolina open at 6:30am (11:30 GMT), and Michigan opens at 7am (12:00 GMT).

The closing times are spread out just as widely. The earliest polls close at 6pm local time (23:00 GMT) in Indiana and Kentucky. Virginia closes at 7pm, which is midnight GMT on 4 November, according to Reuters. Kansas closes at 7pm and Michigan at 8pm, both at 01:00 GMT on Wednesday. Iowa closes at 8pm (02:00 GMT Wednesday). Alaska is the last state to close, at around 1am Eastern Time (06:00 GMT Wednesday).

Most states close their polls between 7pm and 10pm local time. According to The New York Times, closings arrive in a steady stream every 30 to 60 minutes on election night. Reuters reported that US news organisations will start calling races, meaning declaring winners, soon after polls begin to close.

Going into the vote, Republicans held a 218-214 edge in the House of Representatives and a 53-47 majority in the Senate, according to Reuters.

Each state sets its own voting hours. The US government's public information site, USAGov, directs voters to their state or local election office to find a polling place and the hours it keeps.