Texas Election Results 2026: When Polls Close, Where to Follow the Count and Canvass Dates

Texas polls close at 7 p.m. local time on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, which is 8 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) for most of the state, and a voter inside the polling place or waiting to enter at 7 p.m. can still vote. The numbers reported that night are unofficial. Counties canvass the votes by Tue., Nov. 17, and the state canvass can begin no earlier than Sat., Nov. 21, under the Texas Election Code and the Texas Secretary of State’s election calendar.

When do Texas polls close?

The Texas Tribune’s voter guide says Election Day hours are “7 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time,” and El Paso County’s Elections Department lists its vote centers as open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Where	Polls close	In Eastern Time
Most of Texas (Central Time)	7 p.m.	8 p.m.
El Paso and Hudspeth counties (Mountain Time)	7 p.m.	9 p.m.

Section 41.032 entitles a voter “inside or waiting to enter the polling place at 7 p.m.” to vote. If people are still waiting, the presiding judge sends them in and closes the door to others, or hands out numbered cards to the voters in line. Stay in line. Our table of poll closing times in every state shows where Texas falls in the national schedule.

Where to follow Texas results on election night

Two layers of unofficial results appear after 7 p.m.: the state’s statewide returns and each county’s own totals.

• Statewide races. Look for the “Election Night Returns” link on the Texas Secretary of State’s website after the polls close. We could not open a confirmed 2026 results page before the election, so we do not link one.
• County races and your own county. Each county elections office posts its own unofficial totals. Our sample ballot guide links the official elections offices of the 12 most populous counties.
• How soon. We could not confirm an official release time for early-voting totals. Texas counties may start counting early ballots before Election Day, a point covered in when we will know the 2026 results, but each county posts on its own schedule.

Which Texas ballots can arrive after Election Day?

Ballot	Deadline	Source
Mailed ballot	7 p.m. on Tue., Nov. 3	Texas Election Code 86.007
Mailed ballot with a carrier mark of 7 p.m. Nov. 3 or earlier	Arrives by 5 p.m. on Wed., Nov. 4	Texas Election Code 86.007
Overseas ballot	Received by Mon., Nov. 9	Texas Tribune voter guide
Provisional ballot with a photo ID problem	Voter shows ID within six days, by Mon., Nov. 9	Texas Tribune voter guide

The calendar story on Texas early voting dates and deadlines covers how to fix a flagged mail ballot at the early voting clerk’s office.

Texas canvass and certification dates

A canvass is the official count. Counties do it first, then the state.

Step	Date	Rule
Earliest local canvass	Fri., Nov. 6	Not before the third day after Election Day (section 67.003)
Provisional ballots verified and counted	By Mon., Nov. 16	13th day, for an election on the general election date (section 65.051)
Latest local canvass	Tue., Nov. 17	Up to the 14th day for this election (section 67.003)
State canvass	Sat., Nov. 21 to Sun., Dec. 6	Between the 18th and 33rd day after Election Day (section 67.012)
Runoffs for local races	Sat., Dec. 12	Texas Secretary of State’s designation

Other states certify on different dates; see when 2026 election results are certified, by state.

Recounts in Texas

A candidate can petition for an initial recount in the cases listed in section 212.022. One is when “the difference in the number of votes received by the candidate and any candidate for the office who is shown by the election returns to be nominated, elected, or entitled to a place on a runoff ballot” is “less than 10 percent of that candidate’s number of votes.” Another is when all candidates together received fewer than 1,000 votes. The petition is due by 5 p.m. on the third business day after the canvass is completed (section 212.028); a deadline that falls on a weekend moves to 10 a.m. on the next business day.

What Texans are voting on

The statewide ballot lists a U.S. senator, governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, comptroller of public accounts, land commissioner, agriculture commissioner and one railroad commissioner seat, plus four Supreme Court, three Court of Criminal Appeals and three 15th Court of Appeals seats, according to the Texas Tribune. There are no statewide propositions this year. Every certified name is in our Texas ballot guide.

Print the Texas election night guide

The one-page printable below lists the poll closing time, the late-ballot deadlines and each canvass date in order. Add the dates to our November and December printable calendars.