Election Night · Explainer · Updated Oct. 28

When Will We Know Who Won? 2026 Counting Timelines, State by State

Florida, Ohio and Texas usually report most of their vote on election night. Alaska won’t run its ranked-choice count until November 18, and Maine is telling voters to expect its Senate result the week after the election. Here is when each key state can realistically finish, and why.

Published October 28, 2026 · 12 min read · Election Day is Tuesday, November 3

The counting calendar

These are the dates that set the pace. The dates come from state election offices and the sources listed at the bottom; all times are local unless noted.

1. Tue, Nov. 3 · 6 p.m. ET onwardPolls start closing. Fast-count states report early and mail ballots first.Florida must post its counted early and mail votes within 30 minutes of polls closing. Georgia counties must report early and absentee results by 8 p.m.
2. Wed, Nov. 4Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin usually finish most of their counts.Texas also accepts mail ballots postmarked by Election Day until 5 p.m. today.
3. Fri, Nov. 6Kansas’s three-day window for mail ballots closes. Maricopa County hopes to have about 99% of its ballots counted.The Kansas grace period survived because a court blocked the 2025 law that would have ended it.
4. Sat, Nov. 7 · 5 p.m.Nevada’s last day for postmarked mail ballots to arrive.Voters can fix signature problems until 5 p.m. Nov. 9.
5. Week of Nov. 9Maine’s ranked-choice count, if one is needed.Ballots and memory devices are brought to a central site in Augusta. Secretary of State Shenna Bellows has told voters to expect results the week after the election.
6. Tue, Nov. 10Last day for postmarked mail ballots to arrive in California, Oregon and Mississippi. Alaska starts counting absentee ballots.Close House races in California often stay uncalled for weeks after this.
7. Fri, Nov. 13Last day for Alaska absentee ballots mailed within the U.S. to arrive.Overseas ballots have until Nov. 18.
8. Wed, Nov. 18Alaska runs its ranked-choice count for Senate, governor and House.Until then, every Alaska result shows first choices only. Certification is targeted for Nov. 25.
9. Dec. 1 to Dec. 12Runoffs, if any: Georgia on Dec. 1, Louisiana’s U.S. House races on Dec. 12.A Georgia runoff happens only if no one tops 50%, which is unlikely this year because no Libertarians qualified. California counties certify by Dec. 3.

State-by-state: the races to watch and when to expect them

“Expect” describes what has usually happened in recent elections, not a forecast. A very close race can take longer anywhere.

Ballots from military and overseas voters follow separate federal rules and can arrive later than the dates above. Washington ballots count as long as they’re postmarked by Election Day and arrive before the county certifies.

Why some states are slow

When they can start. Most states let officials verify and scan mail ballots before Election Day, so those votes are ready to report when polls close. Pennsylvania and Wisconsin don’t allow that until 7 a.m. on Election Day, so workers spend the day opening envelopes while also running the polls. In Wisconsin, Milwaukee counts all its absentee ballots in one central location and uploads them together late at night, which can swing the statewide numbers at once. That jump is how the system works, not a sign of a problem.

Late-arriving ballots. The Supreme Court ruled 5–4 on June 29 in Watson v. RNC that federal law doesn’t set a deadline for ballots to arrive. That leaves it to each state. California, Nevada, Mississippi, Kansas, Alaska, Oregon, Washington and Texas all count ballots postmarked by Election Day that arrive afterward, each with its own window. In a close race, nobody can responsibly call it until those ballots are in. Every state’s deadline is here.

Signature fixes. Many states give voters a few days to fix a missing or mismatched signature. Nevada’s deadline is Nov. 9 and California’s is Nov. 25. Those ballots aren’t final until the window closes. How ballot curing works.

Ranked-choice counts. Alaska and Maine can’t run their later rounds until all the ballots are in. Election-night numbers in both states show first choices only.

Alaska: first choices on election night, the real count on Nov. 18

Alaska uses ranked-choice voting for Senate, governor and its House seat. The first results are expected around 8:45 to 9 p.m. Alaska time on Nov. 3. Every update through Nov. 18 shows first choices only. Absentee ballots mailed in the U.S. have until Nov. 13 to arrive, and overseas ballots until Nov. 18. The ranked-choice count runs Nov. 18, and the state is aiming to certify on Nov. 25.

That matters in a close Senate race between Mary Peltola and Sen. Dan Sullivan, because the second Dan Sullivan on the ballot, Dan J. Sullivan, could pick up votes that get redistributed in later rounds. In 2024, the Alaska House race between Nick Begich and Peltola wasn’t called until the ranked-choice count on Nov. 20, 15 days after Election Day.

There’s also a lawsuit. On Oct. 22, the Justice Department asked a federal court to block certification if Sen. Sullivan loses but would have won with Dan J. Sullivan’s votes. The state and the Peltola campaign have asked Judge Sharon Gleason to dismiss it, and as of Oct. 28 she had not ruled. The full story is here.

Maine: a ranked-choice ballot for Senate

Six write-in candidates declared for Senate, so Maine’s race between Sen. Susan Collins and Troy Jackson is on a ranked-choice ballot. The 2nd District race is too. If someone wins more than 50% of first choices, the race is over on election night. If not, ballots and memory devices from every town go to a central site in Augusta, and the count proceeds in rounds, removing the last-place candidate each time until one candidate has a majority.

Secretary of State Shenna Bellows has told voters to be ready for results to come “the week following the election.” In 2024, the 2nd District’s ranked-choice count started Nov. 12 and Jared Golden was declared the winner Nov. 15. The governor’s race doesn’t use ranked choice in November. Under Maine’s constitution, the most votes wins.

Georgia and Louisiana: the runoff states

Georgia requires a majority in statewide races. If no one gets more than 50% in the Senate race between Sen. Jon Ossoff and Mike Collins, or in the governor’s race, there’s a runoff on Dec. 1, with early voting from Nov. 23. A runoff is unlikely this year because Libertarians didn’t qualify for the ballot, but write-in votes could still force one in a very close race. How Georgia’s runoff works.

Under Louisiana’s new map, Nov. 3 is an open primary for its U.S. House seats. A candidate who tops 50% wins outright. Otherwise, the top two meet in a runoff on Dec. 12. Mississippi’s Senate race needs only a plurality, and its secretary of state has confirmed that.

What recent elections tell us

Other 2024 races in slow-count states took days to call. The AP called Nevada’s Senate race four days after the election, and Arizona’s about six days after. Fast-count states finished overnight: the AP called the Texas Senate race at 11:39 p.m. ET and Ohio’s at 11:28 p.m. on election night.

Calls aren’t results: what “projected” means

No state certifies a winner on election night. The race calls you see come from news decision desks, such as the Associated Press. The AP calls a race only when it decides the trailing candidate has no remaining path to catch up. It doesn’t name “likely” winners, and it may not call a race at all if the top two are within half a percentage point. Official results come later, when counties and states certify. Alaska targets Nov. 25, Arizona’s statewide canvass is Nov. 23, and California certifies by Dec. 11. What happens between election night and certification.

A very close margin can also set off a recount. Pennsylvania and Arizona recount statewide races automatically at 0.5% or less, Ohio at 0.25%, and Michigan at 0.1%. Recount rules by state.

On election night, our live results board refreshes every minute. Every call names the decision desk that made it, and races still being counted are marked as uncalled.