For anyone who wants to follow the dispute over the Senate, the first especially useful appointment comes at 1:00, with Georgia. At 3:00, Michigan, Texas and Kansas coincide. The last closing, in Alaska, comes at 7:00. In the Canary Islands, one hour must be subtracted.
The schedules indicate when the polling places close, not when the winner will be known. And it is worth distinguishing the two elections: the Senate is followed state by state; to know the majority in the House of Representatives one has to look at specific districts. California matters at five in the morning for that second count.
The closings worth following, in Spanish peninsular time
| Peninsular time | What to watch |
|---|---|
| 00:00 | Indiana and Kentucky: first partial closings, still without a national reading. |
| 01:00 | Georgia: Democrat Jon Ossoff defends his Senate seat. |
| 01:30 | North Carolina and Ohio: two Democratic opportunities in Republican seats. |
| 02:00 | Maine: Republican Susan Collins is fighting for reelection. |
| 03:00 | Michigan, Texas and Kansas: three Senate races worth following together. |
| 05:00 | California: the competitive districts of the House of Representatives. |
| 06:00 | Hawaii and most of Alaska close the polls. |
| 07:00 | Aleutian Islands: last closing of Alaska and of the American election night. |
From Georgia to Michigan: how to read the fight for the Senate
The first question is whether the Democrats keep what they already have. In Georgia, losing Jon Ossoff's seat would force them to make it up in another state. Half an hour later the perspective changes: in North Carolina, Roy Cooper contests a Republican seat from Michael Whatley; in Ohio, former Democratic senator Sherrod Brown tries to return against Republican Jon Husted. At 2:00, Maine adds another opportunity for a party switch.
If you are only going to connect once before sleeping, 3:00 is a good observation point. The previous states will already have closed and three others with different roles are added. In Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed tries to keep a Democratic seat against Mike Rogers. In Texas and Kansas it is the Republicans who are defending ground. The useful question at that time is which seats are still open and how much vote is missing in each one. A candidate who leads a partial count can still lose it.
From California to Alaska: why seven is not the time of the result
At 5:00, the focus widens to California. To follow the lower House, the count of a disputed district, such as the 22nd, matters more than the aggregate percentage of the state: each district elects its own representative. Two hours later, voting ends in the westernmost part of Alaska. There, moreover, the Senate is elected by preferences, so closing the last polling place also does not amount to having an elected senator.