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Millions of Americans are voting in the 2026 midterm elections, which will decide whether President Donald Trump’s Republicans or the opposition Democrats control Congress. The outcome could have a significant impact on Trump’s presidency.
Results may not be projected for several hours after polls close, and in some cases it could take days or weeks. According to BBC World, the timing will depend on how close the races are and which contests prove decisive.
When results may emerge
Congress has two chambers: the House of Representatives and the Senate. A party needs 218 seats for a majority in the House and 51 seats for an outright majority in the Senate. If the Senate is split 50-50, the vice-president can break the tie, giving their party control.
The first results are expected after 18:00 EST (23:00 GMT), when polls close in Kentucky and Indiana. Those early returns may say little about the overall result, as the states are considered safe bets for Republicans and Democrats, respectively. BBC analysts will follow competitive races through the night for indications of how voters are responding to Trump.
Several close Senate contests are in the Eastern Time zone. Polls close in Ohio at 19:30 EST (00:30 GMT) and in Maine at 20:00 EST (01:00 GMT), potentially offering early clues about the electorate’s mood.
US media outlets may begin projecting winners in some contests before all votes have been counted. They use models to determine when a candidate or party has a lead they consider impossible to overcome. In closely contested states, projections may take much longer.
A voter poll is due to be released at 17:00 EST (22:00 GMT), offering an indication of the issues on voters’ minds.
At 18:00 EST (23:00 GMT), polls close in Kentucky and Indiana. At 19:30 EST (00:30 GMT), voting ends in Ohio, where Republican Senator Jon Husted is neck-and-neck with Democrat Sherrod Brown.
At 20:00 EST (01:00 GMT), polls close in the Senate race in Maine between Republican Senator Susan Collins and Democrat Troy Jackson, and in most of Michigan, Kansas and Texas.
At 21:00 EST (02:00 GMT), polls close in Iowa and in the remaining parts of Michigan that are in the Central Time Zone, as well as in Kansas and Texas. Results in the following hours may indicate whether Republicans or Democrats are on course for their expected outcomes.
Alaska, the last of the seven battleground states, closes its polls at 01:00 EST (06:00 GMT). Democrat Mary Peltola is challenging incumbent Republican Senator Dan Sullivan. The race has drawn attention because a second candidate named Dan Sullivan is also on the ballot.
Key Senate and House races
The Cook Political Report, an independent elections analyst, rates seven Senate races as toss-ups: Alaska, Kansas, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Ohio and Texas. Republicans currently hold six of those seats and Democrats hold one.
Democrats would need to win four of the seven toss-up seats, as well as four seats rated likely or leaning Democratic, to reach 51 and take control of the Senate. If they lose their seat in Michigan, securing a majority would become much harder.
In Michigan, left-wing political outsider Abdul El-Sayed is running against Republican Mike Rogers, a Trump ally and former FBI agent. Polls have also suggested Democrats could have a chance in Texas, where former teacher James Talarico could become the first Democrat to win a Senate seat in the state since 1988 if he defeats Ken Paxton, the state’s current attorney general and a close Trump ally.
Republicans have 218 representatives in the House, the exact number required for control, plus one independent who votes with them. The Cook Political Report says some of the most closely watched House contests are in New York’s 17th District, Pennsylvania’s 8th District and Virginia’s 1st District.
In the 2022 midterms, control of Congress was still undecided on 9 November, the day after the election. Republicans were favoured to win the House, while the Senate race remained extremely close.
The full outcome took several days to emerge. CBS News projected on 17 November that Republicans had won the 218 House seats needed for a majority. Counting in a key Senate race in Nevada took four days; the Democrats’ narrow win gave them 50 seats and allowed them to retain control because then-Vice-President Kamala Harris could break a tie.
Georgia’s Senate race went to a runoff after no candidate received more than 50% of the vote in November. The result was not available until 7 December, when Democrats won the seat.
How votes are counted and results certified
Each state runs its own elections and sets its own rules for processing and counting ballots. The order in which votes are tallied differs: some states, including Florida, process early and mail-in ballots before election day, while others do not begin tabulating until 3 November.
Local election officials, who may be appointed or elected, verify, process and count ballots in a procedure known as canvassing. Most states require a formal post-election audit, involving a manual count checked against machine totals, although rules vary. Full hand counts are generally reserved for recounts.
State and local rules specify who may take part in canvassing, the order in which votes are processed and which parts of the process are open to the public. They also set out how partisan observers may monitor the count and, in some states, raise formal challenges.
After all votes have been included in the final results and procedures such as recounts are complete, results are certified first at the local or county level. They are then certified statewide, usually by a state canvassing board or the secretary of state.
The governor typically signs certifications for House and Senate winners to be sent to Congress. Candidates may request recounts in close races; in some states, a recount is automatically triggered when the margin falls within a specified range. Candidates may also file legal election contests alleging irregularities.
Congress has the final say. Losing candidates in House and Senate races can file contests, although the procedures differ between the chambers. Both chambers could, in theory, refuse to seat a member or order an investigation.
Reasons counting may take longer
Close races can take longer to resolve and may lead to recounts or legal challenges. Mail-in ballots also take longer to count because officials must process envelopes and verify signatures.
More than 30 states allow ballots to be processed before election day, while others do not, which can mean results take days to emerge. In California, ballots must be posted by election day or earlier and are still counted if they arrive within seven days of the election.
Some delays are built into state rules and policies. In Alaska, ranked-choice voting may make tabulation take considerably longer than elsewhere, while disputes over ballots could lead to legal challenges.
Outgoing members of Congress leave office on Sunday, 3 January. Because the date falls on a weekend, incoming members may take office on the same day unless Congress passes a law setting a different date.
James FitzGerald, Yazmina García-Fernández, Tom Geoghegan and Mike Hills contributed additional reporting.
