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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday 7 November 2023 | |||||||
| Kentucky (EST) *A reportedly | 2300 UTC | 6:00p EST | 5:00p CST | 4:00p MST | 3:00p PST | 2:00p AKST 1:00p HAST | 7:00p AST 9:00a ChST 12:00p SST |
| Kentucky (CST) *A reportedly | 0000 UTC | 7:00p EST | 6:00p CST | 5:00p MST | 4:00p PST | 3:00p AKST 2:00p HAST | 8:00p AST 10:00a ChST 1:00p SST |
| Rhode Island | 0100 UTC | 8:00p EST | 7:00p CST | 6:00p MST | 5:00p PST | 4:00p AKST 3:00p HAST | 9:00p AST 11:00a ChST 2:00p SST |
| Mississippi | 0100 UTC | 8:00p EST | 7:00p CST | 6:00p MST | 5:00p PST | 4:00p AKST 3:00p HAST | 9:00p AST 11:00a ChST 2:00p SST |
| Saturday 18 November 2023 | |||||||
| Louisiana | 0200 UTC | 9:00p EST | 8:00p CST | 7:00p MST | 6:00p PST | 5:00p AKST 4:00p HAST | 10:00p AST 12:00p ChST 3:00p SST |
| No activity | |||||||
| Alabama Alaska American Samoa Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Guam Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Northern Marianas Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Puerto Rico South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virgin Islands Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming | (no activity) | ||||||
| UTC | Eastern | Central | Mountain | Pacific | Alaska Hawaii | Atlantic Chamorro Samoa |
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.
Kentucky General Election: Polls reportedly 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.
Rhode Island Special General Election: Polls close at 8:00p EST (0100 UTC). Most polls are open at 7am. However, polls may open as late as 9am by location.
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.
2023 General Election Outline
- 2023 General Election Home
- Popular Vote by Office
- Regarding Popular Vote Edge Cases
- 2023 Primaries and Runoffs for Statewide offices/Congress
- Alphabetically
- Alphabetically with Filing Deadlines
- Chronologically
- Chronologically with Filing Deadlines
- Primary/Runoff/Special Elections Poll Closing Times (across time zones)
- General Election Poll Closing Times Alphabetically (across time zones)
- General Election Poll Closing Times Chronologically (across time zones)
- Polling Hours
- Offices
- Primaries at a Glance
- Regarding Office Edge Cases
- Open Governor's Chairs, Senate and House Seats (the incumbent is not running for re-election)
- Governor's Chairs, Senate, and U.S. House Seats with no incumbent running for them
- Uncontested Governor's Chairs, Senate, and U.S. House Seats (one candidate running for office)
- Governor's Chairs, Senate, and U.S. House Seats with multiple incumbents running for them
- Governor's Chairs, Senate, and U.S. House Seats with only one major party candidate running for office
- 2023 Partisan Composition by State
- Political Parties
- History
- Comparative Political Party Predominance in each State, 2000 thru 2016
- Political Party Floor Leaders in the Congress of the United States
- Dates of DIRECT PRIMARY Elections re: Major Party Nominations for Statewide and/or Federal Office
- Length of Terms of Office of STATE Governors throughout American History
- Downloadable data files
Modified .