How Election Night Works Explained

Election night is the evening of Election Day, when polls close and the first vote counts are reported to the public. In 2026, Election Day is Tuesday, November 3.

The results reported on election night are unofficial. They can change as more ballots are counted, and they do not become official until state and local election officials certify them.

Who Is Involved on Election Night?

Election night depends on thousands of people working in election offices, polling places, and newsrooms across the country.

Voters

Voters cast ballots early in person, by mail, or at their polling place on Election Day. How people vote affects when their ballots are counted and reported.

Poll Workers

Poll workers check in voters, help run polling places, and secure ballots and equipment when the polls close.

Local Election Officials

County and city election offices count ballots and post unofficial results, usually on their websites, throughout the night.

State Election Officials

State election offices, often led by a secretary of state, collect results from local offices and oversee the final certification of results.

News Organizations

News organizations gather results and decide when to call races. The Associated Press, which has tracked U.S. elections for 178 years, plans to tabulate results for nearly 7,000 races in 2026. According to the AP, about 4,000 journalists will collect results from local election offices, and about 1,000 vote-entry clerks will enter the totals into its system.

Candidates

Candidates follow the results and may give speeches on election night. A candidate's speech does not make a result official.

What Happens When the Polls Close?

Each state sets its own poll closing time. On November 3, 2026:

1. The first polls close at 6 p.m. Eastern Time in the parts of Indiana and Kentucky that use Eastern Time.
2. Most states close their polls between 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. Eastern Time.
3. Hawaii and most of Alaska close at midnight Eastern Time.
4. The last polls, in Alaska's western Aleutian Islands, close at 1 a.m. Eastern Time on November 4.

After a state's polls close, election offices begin releasing unofficial results. Results from one state usually do not appear until all of its polls have closed.

How Are Votes Counted?

Votes are counted in batches, and different types of ballots are often counted at different times.

Early In-Person Ballots

Ballots cast in person before Election Day are often among the first results released after polls close.

Mail Ballots

Mail ballots take extra steps, such as checking the voter's information, verifying signatures, and opening envelopes. This is called processing. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 44 states and Washington, D.C., allow processing to begin before Election Day. 6 states, Alabama, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Wisconsin, allow it to begin only on Election Day.

Some states also count mail ballots that arrive after Election Day. 15 states and Washington, D.C., accept mail ballots received after Election Day if they are postmarked on or before Election Day.

Election Day Ballots

Ballots cast at polling places on Election Day are counted and reported by local election offices, often throughout the night.

Provisional Ballots

Officials review these ballots after Election Day to decide whether they can be counted.

How Do News Outlets Project Winners?

News organizations use vote counts, information about how many ballots are left to count, and data about where those ballots come from.

The AP Decision Team

The AP's Decision Team is made up of journalists, data analysts, and political science experts. The AP says it does not call a race until the trailing candidates no longer have a path to victory.

"Too Early to Call" and "Too Close to Call"

A race is "too early to call" when too few votes have been counted to declare a winner. A race is "too close to call" when most votes have been counted but the margin is too narrow to declare a winner.

Voter Surveys

News organizations also survey voters about who they voted for and why. In 2026, the AP and several broadcast networks are conducting a survey called the Voter Poll. Survey results help explain the election, but races are not called from survey data alone.

Past Examples

The AP called the 2020 presidential election 4 days after Election Day.

Why Do Some Races Take Days or Weeks to Call?

Many races are called on election night, but some take longer. Common reasons include:

1. Close margins: When candidates are separated by a small number of votes, every remaining ballot can matter.
2. Mail ballots: In some states, mail ballots can arrive and be counted after Election Day.
3. Provisional ballots: These ballots must be reviewed before they are counted.
4. Recounts: According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 26 states and Washington, D.C., have automatic recounts when a race is very close. Thresholds range from a tie vote to a margin of 1%, and 0.5% is the most common.
5. Runoffs: Some states, such as Georgia, require a candidate to win a majority of the vote. If no candidate does, the top 2 finishers compete in a later runoff election. In Georgia, a 2026 general election runoff would be held on December 1, 2026.
6. Ranked-choice voting: Maine uses ranked-choice voting in general elections for the U.S. Senate and U.S. House when 3 or more candidates are running. If no candidate wins a majority of first-choice votes, additional rounds of counting take place.

When Do Results Become Official?

After election night, officials complete several steps before results are final.

The Canvass

A canvass is the official review and count of all valid ballots. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, local canvass deadlines range from the day after the election in Alaska to 30 days after the election in many California elections.

Certification

Certification is the formal step in which election officials declare that the results are accurate and complete. Only certified results are official.

Audits

All 50 states and Washington, D.C., conduct some type of post-election audit to check that votes were counted accurately.

Taking Office

Members of Congress elected in 2026 will take office on January 3, 2027. Start dates for state and local offices are set by each state.