Voting Hours and Guidelines for Election Day Across States
As voters head to the polls for Election Day, states maintain specific schedules and regulations for casting ballots.
Voters across the nation are heading to polling places to cast their ballots in key races, prompting many to check operating hours and voting requirements. While schedules vary by jurisdiction, election officials emphasize that anyone standing in line by closing time will be permitted to vote.
In Virginia, polling locations opened early at 6:00 a.m. on Election Day. Voters have a 13-hour window to cast their ballots, with polls scheduled to close at 7:00 p.m. According to the Virginia Department of Elections, any voter standing in line prior to 7:00 p.m. will be allowed to complete their ballot.
Voters in Virginia must cast their ballots at their assigned polling place. Mail-in ballots are also accepted until 7:00 p.m. on Election Day, provided they are postmarked or placed in a designated drop box by that deadline.
Further north, polling places across Massachusetts opened at 7:00 a.m. and will remain open until 8:00 p.m. Registered voters in the state are guaranteed the right to cast a ballot as long as they are in line at their designated location by the 8:00 p.m. closing time.
Massachusetts residents who have not yet submitted their mail-in ballots can still turn them in by dropping them off in person at a local election office or a secure municipal drop box. Unofficial results in the state are typically announced by poll workers shortly after polls close, though these figures exclude provisional, military, overseas, and write-in ballots.
In Los Angeles County, California, voting centers are operating from 7:00 p.m. back to 7:00 a.m.—functioning specifically from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Local officials have provided online tools to help manage massive turnout and reduce wait times, including a vote center locator that features real-time, color-coded wait status updates ranging from green for quick visits to red for waits exceeding an hour.
California voters who arrive at a center can utilize provisional ballots if they forgot their primary ballot, or request curbside voting if physical limitations prevent them from entering the facility. Similar to other regions, any voter already in line when the clock strikes 8:00 p.m. will be allowed to vote, while late arrivals after the designated closing time will not be permitted to join the line.