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When do polls open and close on Election Day 2024? Times to know for Tuesday
Millions of Americans will vote in person in the 2024 election on Tuesday, Nov. 5. Check the times that polls open and close, since the hours vary by state, and 15 states have areas falling into two different time zones. States will begin reporting election results after their polls close.
If you are in line before a site closes, you have the right to remain in line and vote. View a list of voter rights from the ACLU here.
Forty-seven states and the District of Columbia offer some form of early voting, and eight states along with D.C. allow a vote-by-mail system across the board. More than 78 million voters cast their ballots early this year.
What time do the first polls open on Election Day 2024?
The first poll opening times on the East Coast are in Vermont, where certain locations (but not all) open at 5 a.m. ET. Polling places in all or parts of five more states open at 6 a.m. ET. See a full list below.
Here’s when polls open in each state on Election Day:
Oregon is a vote-by-mail state, so it has no in-person polling locations.
As early as 5 a.m. ET
- Vermont (Polls open between 5 a.m. and 10 a.m. depending on your town. Check here to see when your polling site opens)
6 a.m. ET
- Connecticut
- Kentucky (Polling sites in the west open at 7 a.m. ET)
- Maine (Polling locations open between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. depending on town population. Check here)
- New Jersey
- New York
- Virginia
6:30 a.m. ET
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- West Virginia
7 a.m. ET
- Alabama
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Florida (8 a.m. ET in parts of the Florida Panhandle on Central time)
- Georgia
- New Hampshire (Opening times vary by county with the earliest starting at 7 a.m. ET; check here)
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Kansas (Varies by county; check with your local election office for polling hours)
- Louisiana
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan (Polling sites in four Upper Peninsula counties open at 8 a.m. ET)
- Missouri
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island (Polls in New Shoreham open at 9 a.m. ET)
- South Carolina
- Wyoming
8 a.m. ET
- Arizona
- Iowa
- Minnesota (Counties with a population of less than 500 are not required to open until 11 a.m. ET)
- Mississippi
- Oklahoma
- North Dakota (Polls start opening at 8 a.m. ET and vary by county. Check here under “County Polling Places” to see polling hours)
- South Dakota (Polling locations in the west open at 9 a.m. ET)
- Tennessee
- Texas (Polling sites in three western counties open at 9 a.m. ET)
- Wisconsin
8:30 a.m. ET
9 a.m. ET
- Colorado
- Montana (Polling sites in counties with less than 400 registered voters can open as late as 2 p.m. ET)
- Nebraska
- Nevada (Polling sites open at 10 a.m. ET with the exception of City Hall in West Wendover)
- New Mexico
- Utah
10 a.m. ET
- California
- Idaho (Polling locations in the north open at 11 a.m. ET)
11 a.m. ET
- Washington (Most voting is done by mail, so times vary by county; check here)
- Alaska (Polling sites open at 11 a.m. ET with the exception of Adak)
12 p.m. ET
What time do the first polls close on Election Day 2024?
The first polls to close on the East Coast are in eastern counties of Indiana and Kentucky, at 6 p.m. ET, then the rest of those states, as well as Georgia, South Carolina, Vermont and Virginia, close at 7 p.m. ET. See a full list of the scheduled poll closing times below.
Here’s when polls close in each state on Election Day:
7 p.m. ET
- Georgia
- Indiana (Polls close at 6 p.m. ET in the 80 counties in Eastern time zone; find your polling location here)
- Kentucky (Polls close at 6 p.m. ET for the 79 counties in the eastern part of the state)
- South Carolina
- Vermont
- Virginia
7:30 p.m. ET
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- West Virginia
8 p.m. ET
- Alabama
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Florida (Polls in Eastern time zone close at 7 p.m. ET; part of Panhandle are in Central time zone)
- Illinois
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- New Hampshire (Polling hours vary by municipality and are listed by location here)
- New Jersey
- Oklahoma
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- Tennessee
8:30 p.m. ET
9 p.m. ET
- Arizona
- Colorado
- Iowa
- Kansas (Polling locations close at 8 p.m. ET in all except four counties in the west)
- Louisiana
- Michigan (Polling locations close at 8 p.m. ET in all except four counties)
- Minnesota
- Nebraska
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Dakota (Polls close at 8 p.m. ET in all but eight counties)
- South Dakota (Polls close at 8 p.m. ET in the east)
- Texas (Polls close at 8 p.m. ET for most of the state except three counties in the west)
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
10 p.m. ET
- Montana
- Nevada (The polling location at City Hall in West Wendover closes at 9 p.m. ET)
- Utah
11 p.m. ET
- California
- Idaho (Polling locations in the south close at 10 p.m. ET)
- Oregon (Polling locations in Malheur County close at 10 p.m. ET)
- Washington
12 a.m. ET
1 a.m. ET
- Alaska (Polling locations close at 12 a.m. with the exception of Adak)
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Sen. Jon Tester and Republican challenger Tim Sheehy are facing off in Montana as the Democratic incumbent fights to hold onto his seat in the Senate in a race that’s key to determining which party controls the upper chamber.
Considered the most endangered Democrat seeking reelection in the Senate this cycle, Tester, a moderate in deep-red Montana, has been under the political microscope for months as he campaigns to keep the seat he’s held for nearly two decades. Although the 68-year-old has fended off previous challenges, shifting demographics and political dynamics in the state appeared to enhance the pickup opportunity for Republicans in the 2024 election.
Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL and founder of an aerial firefighting company, received his party’s backing as the candidate to take on Tester. The 38-year-old worked to draw a contrast with Tester, portraying himself as an outsider during the campaign while painting the Democrat as an establishment candidate with deep ties to Washington. He also touted bringing jobs to Montana with his business, which made him wealthy enough to help fund his campaign.
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Sheehy, who grew up in Minnesota, has faced criticism for lacking the deep roots that Tester has in the state. He has also faced questions about discrepancies in his story of how he sustained a gunshot wound. Meanwhile, Tester sought to portray his opponent as an out-of-touch carpetbagger, likening the GOP candidate to rich out-of-staters who have flocked to Montana in recent years.
Tester is a third-generation Montana farmer. First elected to the Senate in 2006, his brand is well known in the state, and despite its more conservative politics, he’s won reelection twice as a moderate Democrat.
But Montana’s political landscape has changed. In 2020, Donald Trump won Montana by more than 16 points, and trends suggest that an influx of new residents in the state is made up largely of Republicans. The state’s changing dynamics posed a serious hurdle for Tester — the sole Democrat serving in statewide office in Montana.
The Montana Senate seat is a key target for Republicans looking to build a GOP majority in the upper chamber. And it marks among the final Democratic holdouts in the Great Plains, and in red states more broadly.
With a narrow 51-49 majority in the Senate, Democrats have little room for error. After Sen. Joe Manchin opted not to seek reelection, all but guaranteeing a GOP flip of his seat in West Virginia, Republicans looked to Tester’s seat as the next best opportunity to gain ground.
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