US midterm elections: When do polls open and close, and when will results be announced?

More than 230 million eligible voters across the United States can cast their ballots on Tuesday (Nov 03) in elections that will decide the composition of Congress and several state governments.

All 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 35 of the Senate's 100 seats are up for election. Voters in 36 states will also choose their governors. Republicans currently control both chambers of Congress.

Here is a look at the polling schedule and when the results are expected.

When do polls open?

Polling hours vary from state to state. Vermont will be the first to open its polling stations at 5 am local time (10 am GMT or 3:30 pm IST).

Voting will begin at 6 am local time (11 am GMT or 4:30 pm IST) in New Jersey, Virginia, Connecticut and Kentucky. Polls in Georgia, Florida, Pennsylvania and New York will open between 6 am and 7 am local time (11 am and 12 pm GMT or 4:30 pm and 5:30 pm IST).

In Ohio and North Carolina, voting will start at 6:30 am local time (11:30 am GMT or 5 pm IST). Polling stations in Michigan will open at 7 am (12 pm GMT or 5:30 pm IST).

When do polls close?

Polls will close at different times across the country. The earliest closures are scheduled for 6 pm local time in Indiana and Kentucky (11 pm GMT or 4:30 am IST on Wednesday).

Voting in Kansas will end at 7 pm local time, while polls in Michigan will close at 8 pm. Both timings correspond to 1 am GMT or 6:30 am IST on Wednesday.

In Iowa, polling stations will close at 8 pm local time (2 am GMT or 7:30 am IST on Wednesday).

Alaska will be among the last to close its polling stations, at around 1 am Eastern Time (6 am GMT or 11:30 am IST on Wednesday).

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When will the results be announced?

The first results could emerge on Tuesday as polling stations begin to close. Vote counts will continue through the evening and into Wednesday as officials process ballots and release updates.

However, early results will not necessarily mean that a winner has been declared. Election officials publish vote counts as ballots are processed, while news organisations such as the Associated Press analyse the figures before calling individual races.

Closely contested seats could take hours or even days to decide. It may also take time to establish which party will control Congress.