Getty (Designed by Dwilson) Trump and Biden are facing off in the election.
How long after polls close in Texas will it take to learn the results of the election between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden? And when do those polls close? Depending on how close the race is, we might know right away or it might take some time for results to come in. Here’s what we know so far.
Here’s When Polls Close in Texas
Polls in Texas close at 7 p.m. Central time (and at 8 p.m. Central in El Paso due to being in a different time zone), and that is right when results are expected to start coming in, Texas Tribune reported.
The presidential race in Texas will likely be much closer than normal for the state. As of October 30, more than 8 million Texans had already cast early votes, Texas Tribune reported. In El Paso, the polls close at 8 p.m. Central and everywhere else in the state, polls close at 7 p.m. Central. So that is when you can start expecting to see results in the maps and charts above.
Texas results likely won’t be extended for days like you may see in other states that have later mail-in voting deadlines. Counties in Texas could start counting mail-in votes before Election Day, and the deadline wasn’t expanded here. Texas Tribune reported that a winner in Texas was declared in 2016 just after 8 p.m. Central. When Cruz and O’Rourke had a closer Senate race, the results were declared by 9:30 p.m. Central. So this will could happen in Texas again this year, but it’s not guaranteed.
Some Counties Are Warning that Residents May Not Know Results as Early as Normal
Although it’s likely that a winner can be declared tonight, Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir warned that might not be the case this year — or at least, the results could be later than normal, Spectrum News reported. DeBeauvoir speculated that it would be unlikely that results will be known in time for the 10 p.m. Central news coverage.
McLennan County warned KCENTV of the same. Depending on the number of people who show up to vote, they might not be able to have their projected results by the 10 p.m. Central news broadcast either.
If the race is too close, then voters may need to wait for results until absentee ballots are counted, which could be postmarked as late as 7 p.m. today and received by 5 p.m. tomorrow, Texas Tribune reported. Overseas military ballots have until November 9 to arrive. If the margin of victory is less than 10% of the votes received by the lead, then the person who finishes second can request a recount, Texas Tribune reported. This could delay knowing results for weeks.
But more than likely, voters will know the results sometime tonight. However, those results are going to probably be later than the normal 7 to 9:30 p.m. Central time that voters are used to.
Other states, however, are going to be much later.
The following states might have their voting results come in the latest, based on historical results or when mail-in votes are counted. Other states may also be late, this is not an all-inclusive list.
- Florida historically takes longer to report results, sometimes weeks depending on how close a race is.
- Georgia may have slower to report results if there is a large turnout.
- Michigan results are expected to be delayed, Detroit Free Press reported. Tuesday night is unlikely to happen. Results will likely be several days later.
- Pennsylvania might be later, since votes can be received within three days of the election if they are postmarked by Election Day.
- Wisconsin could be later, since absentee voting could not be processed until Election Day and there were a large number of absentee votes.
- California historically has later election results than many other states.
ABC 6 reported that overall presidential results might still be known sometime tonight, but only if the states that do release their results can give enough electoral votes to one candidate, despite battleground states still counting mail-in ballots. Otherwise, it might take several days to know who won the election.
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