US Election: How Will The Election Day Unfold?

On Tuesday, millions of Americans will cast their votes in the 2024 presidential election, a closely contested race between Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and her Republican opponent, Donald Trump.

Election spans six time zones

While there are 230 million eligible voters, only around 160 million are registered. Nearly half of US states permit same-day registration, and North Dakota allows citizens to vote without prior registration. More than 70 million people have already voted through mail-in ballots or early in-person polling.

In addition to the presidential race, voters will choose 34 senators and all 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives. Gubernatorial races are also being held in 11 states and two territories, including Puerto Rico and American Samoa.

Spanning six time zones, the U.S. begins voting as early as 5 a.m. ET (10:00 GMT) in some areas and concludes as late as 1 a.m. ET (06:00 GMT) on Wednesday. Polls open at various times, starting as early as 5 a.m. in some Vermont municipalities.

US election polling times vary

At 6 a.m. ET (11:00 GMT), polls open in Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Virginia, and parts of Indiana and Kentucky. In Maine and New Hampshire, polling times vary by municipality. By 6:30 a.m. ET (11:30 GMT), polls open in North Carolina, a key battleground, along with Ohio and West Virginia. Several other states begin voting at 7 a.m. ET (12:00 GMT), including Delaware, D.C., Georgia, and Pennsylvania. In Georgia, which narrowly went to Joe Biden in 2020, recent demographic shifts have made races more competitive.

Voting continues to open across additional states at various times: by 8 a.m. ET (13:00 GMT), polling is underway in Alabama, Arizona, and others, with Arizona also becoming a competitive state in recent elections. States like Arkansas follow at 8:30 a.m., while western states such as California and Nevada open later in the morning and early afternoon.

US election beginning and  closing timings

Polls begin to close in some states by 6 p.m. ET (23:00 GMT), with Indiana and Kentucky among the first. Key closures occur around 7 p.m. ET (00:00 GMT), when polls close in six states, including Georgia and Virginia. Polls continue to close by time zone, with states like North Carolina and Ohio finishing voting by 7:30 p.m. ET (00:30 GMT).

By 8 p.m. ET (01:00 GMT on Wednesday), polls close in 16 states, including Florida, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia. Pennsylvania is a key swing state, with close margins in the 2016 and 2020 elections. Arkansas wraps up voting shortly after at 8:30 p.m. ET.

Swing states

Around 9 p.m. ET (02:00 GMT on Wednesday), polls close in 15 more states, including Arizona, Michigan, and Wisconsin—all important swing states. Wisconsin, for example, leaned Democratic from 1988 to 2020, except for a Republican win in 2016. Nevada, another competitive state, closes voting at 10 p.m. ET (03:00 GMT), while western states like California and Washington finish by 11 p.m. ET (04:00 GMT).

California, a heavily populated state expected to vote Democratic, has traditionally favored Democrats since 1992. By midnight ET (05:00 GMT on Wednesday), polls close in Hawaii, concluding the 2024 voting process across the U.S.

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