Polls begin closing on Tuesday 3 November 2020 at 0000 UTC (7:00p EST). All polls are closed by Wednesday at 0600 UTC (1:00p EST).

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.)
 

The table below counts the electoral votes at LATEST poll closing time for states that span multiple time zones.The EARLIEST poll closing time is shown with blanks in the electoral vote column. (Note that the media has historically called states when MOST rather than ALL of the polls have closed.)

This is the earliest at which a candidate could be projected to have been elected the next President of the United States, assuming a candidate has been projected to win the necessary 270 electoral votes to be elected.

Notes

Polling places in states that span multiple time zones will close either synchronously or asynchronously.

• (Note ^*S) With synchronized closing, all the polls close at the same GMT/UTC time. For states with multiple time zones-- when polls close in the advanced local time zone, they will close one hour earlier in the lagging local time zone.
• (Note ^*A) With asynchronous closing, the polls close at different GMT/UTC times in different parts of the state. Media outlets might decide to declare a winner before all the polls have closed.

Alaska General Election: Polls close asynchronously at 8:00p AKST (0500 UTC) / 8:00p HAST (0600 UTC). Alaska Time covers most of the state except for the Aleutian Islands west of Umnak Island (approximately half of Aleutian Islands). The media considers Alaska's polls to close at 8 PM Alaska Time and, thus, considers the State "callable" after that hour.

Colorado General Election: Polls close at 7:00p MST (0200 UTC). Colorado votes mostly by mail.

Florida General Election: Polls close asynchronously at 7:00p EST (0000 UTC) / 7:00p CST (0100 UTC). Relatively small portions of this state are in CT and so the vast majority of the polls are closed by the time indicated ET.

Hawaii General Election: Polls close at 7:00p HAST (0500 UTC). Hawaii votes by mail beginning in 2020. Ballots must be received by 7p on Election Day.

Idaho General Election: Polls close asynchronously at 8:00p MST (0300 UTC) / 8:00p PST (0400 UTC). Local option allows polling places to open at 7 AM. A sizable part of IDAHO is in PT but, as the MT section is the much more populated portion of the state, the networks consider that "most of the polls in IDAHO" are closed by 8 PM MT.

Indiana General Election: Polls close asynchronously at 6:00p EST (2300 UTC) / 6:00p CST (0000 UTC). Although a portion of this state is in CT, the majority of the polls are closed by the time indicated ET when the networks feel they can project.

Kansas General Election: Polls reportedly close asynchronously at 7:00p MST (0200 UTC) / 7:00p CST (0100 UTC). For practical purposes, polling places open at 7 AM and close at 7 PM local time on Election Day. Technically, in the Central time zone, polling places open at 7 AM and close at 7 PM. However, a county may open the polls no earlier than 6 AM local time and close them no later than 8 PM. In the Mountain time zone, polling places open at 6 AM and close at 6 PM. However, a county may open the polls no earlier than 5 AM local time and close them no later than 7 PM.

Kentucky General Election: Polls close asynchronously at 6:00p EST (2300 UTC) / 6:00p CST (0000 UTC). Poll closing time could be rather problematic in KENTUCKY. A large chunk of the state is in Central Time [but the networks consider that "most of the polls have closed" in KENTUCKY by 6 PM Eastern Time and so, if they can, project at the same time they project INDIANA]. Central Time voters in KENTUCKY may note the networks' willingness/eagerness to project a winner as early as 6 PM Eastern Time.

Maine General Election: Polls reportedly close at 8:00p EST (0100 UTC). Voting places open between 6:00a Eastern Time and 10:00a Eastern Time depending on the size of the town.

Massachusetts General Election: Polls close at 8:00p EST (0100 UTC). By local option, municipalities may open their polls as early as 5:45 a.m.

Michigan General Election: Polls close asynchronously at 8:00p EST (0100 UTC) / 8:00p CST (0200 UTC). Relatively small portions of this state are in Central Time and so the vast majority of the polls are closed by the time indicated Eastern Time, when the networks feel they can project.

Minnesota General Election: Polls close at 8:00p CST (0200 UTC). Voting begins at 10:00 AM in some townships.

Montana General Election: Polls close at 8:00p MST (0300 UTC). A polling place with less than 400 registered voters must be open at least from noon to 8 p.m. or until all registered electors have voted.

Nebraska General Election: Polls close synchronously at 8:00p CST (0200 UTC) / 7:00p MST (0200 UTC). The polls open and close at the same GMT/UTC time, that is, polls open and close at a particular local time in the advanced time zone and open and close one hour earlier local time in the lagging time zone.

New Hampshire General Election: Polls reportedly close at 8:00p EST (0100 UTC). Polls must open by 11 AM however most open between 7 AM and 8 AM. NEW HAMPSHIRE permits its 13 cities to keep their polls open until 8 PM Eastern Time by local option- however, as there ARE only 13 cities among New Hampshire's 234 County subdivisions [the 221 "non-cities", of course, being the proverbial New England Town(ship)], the fact is that the vast majority of NH's polls have closed by 7 PM Eastern Time and the networks have no problem considering this hour as the earliest hour of potential projection.

North Carolina General Election: Polls close at 7:30p EST (0030 UTC). In extraordinary circumstances, the county board of elections may direct that the polls remain open until 8:30 p.m.

North Dakota General Election: Polls reportedly close asynchronously at 9:00p CST (0300 UTC) / 9:00p MST (0400 UTC). Voting places open between 7:00a to 12:00n and remain open until 7:00p to 9:00p depending on the size of the town. The western half of the state is in Mountain Time but that is, of course, the more sparsely populated part of the state, so it is not as problematic to the networks as might be otherwise suggested by simple geography. In 2018, polls closed at 8pm CST in Cass County and at 7pm CST or 7pm MST in most other polling places.

Oregon General Election: Polls close asynchronously at 8:00p MST (0300 UTC) / 8:00p PST (0400 UTC). Oregon votes by mail. Ballots must be in the hands of election workers or in an official drop-off location no later than 8 PM local time. OREGON is the reverse of the norm because the by far largest portion of the state is in the lagging time zone and the networks have no choice but to not consider the OREGON polls closed until 8 PM Pacific.

Rhode Island General Election: Polls reportedly close at 8:00p EST (0100 UTC). Most polls are open at 7am. However, polls may open as late as 9am by location.

South Dakota General Election: Polls close asynchronously at 7:00p CST (0100 UTC) / 7:00p MST (0200 UTC).

Tennessee General Election: Polls reportedly close synchronously at 8:00p EST (0100 UTC) / 7:00p CST (0100 UTC). The polls close at the same GMT/UTC time, that is, polls close at a particular local time in the advanced time zone and close one hour earlier local time in the lagging time zone. Poll opening times are set by county. In some counties, polls open at 9a in the prevailing time zone.

Texas General Election: Polls close asynchronously at 7:00p CST (0100 UTC) / 7:00p MST (0200 UTC). Only El Paso and Hudspeth Counties are in Mountain Time, so the vast majority of polls have closed in Texas by 7 PM Central Time.

Vermont General Election: Polls close at 7:00p EST (0000 UTC). Polls may open as early as 5:00a and no later than 10:00a as set by the Board of Civil Authority.

Washington General Election: Polls close at 8:00p PST (0400 UTC). Washington votes by mail. Ballots must be postmarked no later than Midnight local time going into Election Day itself, or dropped off in a designated ballot box by 8 p.m. local time on Election Day itself.

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

Notes

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.