The 2026 US midterm elections are putting the spotlight on why do some states report results within hours, while others take days or even weeks to determine winners? Although Americans vote on the same day, the process of counting and reporting ballots varies significantly across states, shaped by local election laws, mail-in voting, geography and the closeness of individual races.
US Midterm Election Results 2026 Live
Voting took place on November 3, with all 435 seats in the House of Representatives, 35 Senate seats and 36 governorships up for election. More than 57 million voters had already cast ballots before Election Day, adding to the volume of votes that election officials must process and report. The first polls closed at 6 pm Eastern
Time in parts of Indiana and Kentucky, while the final polling stations in Alaska were scheduled to close at 1 am Eastern on November 4.
But the closing of polls does not mean the counting is complete. The time taken to declare a winner depends on how quickly ballots can be processed, how many votes remain outstanding and whether the margin between candidates is large enough for news organisations to make a reliable projection.
Why US Election Results Come In Waves
Unlike India, where polling and counting are managed by the Election Commission, the US gives individual states considerable authority over how elections are conducted. The Constitution allows states to determine the time, place and manner of elections, resulting in different voting and counting procedures across the country.
This means election results do not arrive simultaneously. Polls close in stages because of the country’s multiple time zones, beginning in parts of Indiana and Kentucky at 6 pm Eastern Time and moving through successive waves across the country. Most polling stations in the eastern states close before those in the central, mountain and Pacific time zones.
The first results can therefore emerge while voters in other states are still casting ballots. California and Washington, for instance, close their polls at 11 pm Eastern, while Alaska’s final polling stations remain open until 1 am Eastern on November 4.
The staggered schedule gives news organisations an early picture of the election, but it also means that the first results cannot necessarily be treated as a reliable indication of the nationwide outcome.
Why Some States Count Faster Than Others
The biggest factor behind the difference in counting speed is how states process ballots before and after Election Day.
David Becker, executive director and founder of the Center for Election Innovation & Research and a CBS News contributor, said he has “some doubts” that Americans will know who controls the House or Senate on election night. “If we do, then there’s a very big wave going on,” Becker said.
States that allow election officials to prepare and process mail-in ballots before polling day can begin reporting results relatively quickly once voting closes. Others have restrictions on when officials can start processing ballots, which can delay the release of results even when a large share of votes has already been cast.
In Connecticut, for example, most ballot and envelope processing take place on Election Day. Local election officials can, however, sort ballots by precinct and verify absentee voters’ names against voter lists before sending the envelopes to polling places or counting centres for further processing.
In some states, after verifying the signature, election officials can open the envelope and prepare the ballot for scanning. This involves removing it from the envelope, flattening it and stacking it with other ballots. Ballot duplication may also be required if a ballot is damaged or cannot be read by tabulating equipment.
Forty-four states, Washington, DC, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands allow election officials to begin processing absentee or mail-in ballots before Election Day.
Mail-in voting is particularly important in states where ballots are sent to voters or where a large proportion of the electorate chooses to vote by post. California, for example, allows registered voters to vote by mail and accepts ballots postmarked by Election Day for up to a week afterward. This means election officials may still be receiving eligible ballots after polling stations have closed.
The state’s size and the volume of ballots also contribute to the time required to complete counting. In 2024, Georgia, South Carolina and Florida counted most of their votes on election night, while Michigan, Minnesota and New Hampshire took longer. California also had substantial numbers of ballots remaining uncounted on election night, with counting continuing for days.
The difference is not necessarily that one state counts more efficiently than another. The rules governing when ballots can be processed, how they are received and when they can be reported play a significant role.
Why Close Races Can Take Days
Counting speed is only one part of the equation. The margin between candidates and the number of outstanding ballots can determine how long it takes to establish who has won.
A candidate leading by a substantial margin may be projected as the winner before every ballot has been counted. However, when the contest is close, election officials and news organisations must assess how many votes remain, where they are coming from and whether those ballots could change the outcome.
This is relevant in states with large mail-in voting populations. A candidate who leads in the initial count may lose that advantage as additional ballots are processed. The reverse can also happen, making it important not to treat early leads as final outcomes.
Voting by mail became popular during the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly in the West. But, according to experts, “convenience” does not always mean speed of processing and counting ballots would be faster.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, six states, including Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, prohibit election officials from processing mail-in ballots before Election Day.
Another complex system is the ranked-choice voting. In this, voters rank candidates in order of preference. If no candidate meets the required threshold, the lowest-ranked candidate is eliminated and votes are redistributed according to voters’ next preferences. This process can require additional counting rounds.
Maine and Alaska use ranked-choice voting in certain elections, while Alaska’s geography and remote communities can also complicate ballot collection and counting. As a result, some races in these states may take longer to resolve than contests where a clear winner emerges from the initial count.
When Can News Organisations Call A Winner?
One of the biggest sources of confusion on election night is the difference between a projected winner and an officially declared result.
News organisations use statistical analysis, vote totals and information about outstanding ballots to determine whether a candidate has an insurmountable lead. A race can be called when the available evidence indicates that the remaining votes are unlikely to change the outcome.
However, these projections are not official declarations by election authorities. The counting process may continue after a news organisation calls a race, and the state must still complete its own verification and certification procedures.
No state allows election officials to release results from scanned or processed mail-in ballots before polls close on Election Day. Since federal elections are held on the same day across the country, releasing results early could influence voters’ decisions on whether and how to cast their ballots.
Once polls close, local election officials can retrieve the final tallies and add them to the overall election results. In many states, accessing these tallies before polls close is illegal, even if the ballots have already been scanned and processed.
Some news organisations, including The Wall Street Journal and MS NOW, will rely on the Associated Press (AP) for race calls. Others, such as Fox News and CBS News, will make their own projections using AP vote counts, exit polls, early-voting data and statistical models.
The first race calls are expected soon after polls begin closing across the US. Polls close first in parts of Indiana and Kentucky at 6 pm ET (2300 GMT), followed by Georgia, South Carolina, Vermont and Virginia at 7 pm ET (0000 GMT on November 4). Some races could be called immediately if a substantial portion of the vote has already been counted.
More than 60% of Americans have some confidence in news organisations to report accurate election results, but only 32% have high confidence, according to an October poll conducted for the Medill Local News Initiative and the Alliance for Trust in Media. The survey also found that Democrats were more likely than Republicans to trust election reporting.
Although most major television networks use the same AP vote-counting data, those that call winners rely on their own combination of data analysis, historical models, exit polls and expert judgment. They declare a race when their analysis indicates that the outcome is statistically certain.
What Happens When Results Remain Unclear?
When the margin between candidates is narrow, counting may continue until election officials have processed the outstanding ballots. Recounts, legal challenges and state certification deadlines can further extend the timeline.
Georgia, for instance, can require a runoff if no candidate secures a majority in certain elections. Maine’s ranked-choice counting can also take additional time, while Alaska’s remote ballots and ranked choice system may delay some outcomes.
The broader lesson is that election night offers an initial snapshot rather than a complete picture. The outcome of a close race may not be known until the remaining ballots have been counted and the relevant procedures have been completed.
State certification can take considerably longer than media projections. The distinction matters because the result announced by a news organisation is a forecast based on available evidence, while certification is the formal process through which election authorities confirm the outcome.
As the 2026 US midterms unfold, the key question is not just which party wins control of Congress, but how the country reaches that conclusion. The gap between polling day and the final result is a reminder that counting votes, projecting winners and officially certifying elections are three distinct stages of the democratic process.
