Home ❯ 2026 General Election ❯ 2026 Poll Closing Times f…
This chart reflects the poll closing times used by the networks and
other media outlets on Election Night. There is an "unenforced pledge"
to not project a winner in a state until that state's polls have closed
(which, to the media, means "most of the state's polls have closed").
Below the chart is an outline of potential difficulties which may occur
where a state spans time zones. (Poll closing times are extended
for voters still in line when the hour of poll closing has arrived.)
 | UTC | Eastern | Central | Mountain | Pacific | Alaska
Hawaii | Atlantic
Chamorro
Samoa |
|---|
Time zone abbreviations
UTC: Coordinated Universal Time (Greenwich England)
AST: Atlantic Standard Time (Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands), UTC - 4 hours
EST: Eastern Standard Time, UTC - 5 hours
EDT: Eastern Daylight Time, UTC - 4 hours
CST: Central Standard Time, UTC - 6 hours
CDT: Central Daylight Time, UTC - 5 hours
MST: Mountain Standard Time, UTC - 7 hours
MDT: Mountain Daylight Time, UTC - 6 hours
PST: Pacific Standard Time, UTC - 8 hours
PDT: Pacific Daylight Time, UTC - 7 hours
AKST: Alaska Standard Time, UTC - 9 hours
AKDT: Alaska Daylight Time, UTC - 8 hours
HAST: Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time, UTC - 10 hours
HADT: Hawaii-Aleutian Daylight Time (Hawii does not observe daylight time), UTC - 9 hours
ChST: Chamorro Standard Time (Guam, Northern Marianas), UTC + 10 hours
SST: Samoa Standard Time, UTC - 11 hours
m: midnight
a: AM
p: PM
Primary dates marked "presumably" and polling times marked "reportedly" are based on unofficial or estimated data (especially as regards local variations from a jurisdictionwide statutory and/or regulatory standard) and are, thereby, subject to change.
2026 General Election Outline
Modified .
