The fate of the election depends on seven crucial states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. It appears that Kamala Harris, the Vice President, and ex-President Donald Trump have been frequent visitors here. These states hold the key to unlocking the requisite Electoral College votes for the winning contender to secure a majority of 270. Observing the interconnected election timelines in these states, sprawled across four distinct time zones, would be a taxing feat.
Arizona’s elections kick off at 8 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, a state that Joe Biden managed to scrape a victory in 2020, with a disbelief-inducing margin of a meager 0.3%. This marked a second occasion for a Democratic candidate to chart a win in the state, within the span of roughly seven decades. The voting ritual concludes in Arizona at 9 p.m., with the rule that vote counts won’t be published until all precincts finish reporting or an hour after the voting process wraps up.
In Georgia, another swing state, the polling stations open their doors at 7 a.m.; Joe Biden had a narrow victory here in the 2020 contest. That win marked the first time that a Democratic candidate clinched the state in the race for the White House since Bill Clinton’s win in 1992. Biden’s margin over Trump was razor-thin, less than one-quarter of a percentage point, equivocal to a measly 11,779 votes. Georgia’s polling booths close down at 7 p.m.
In Michigan, polling begins at 7 a.m. ET. This state is essentially a prized piece in the ‘blue wall’ that seemingly faltered and turned red for Trump in 2016 after nearly thirty years of Democratic dominance. Biden managed to revert Michigan from its stunning deviation four years later. Out of 5.5 million votes cast, Biden’s winning margin was approximately 154,000 votes. The polling time for most of the state ends at 8 p.m. ET, with the remainders finishing an hour later.
Nevada, despite its status as the smallest electoral vote prize among the battleground states, starts polling at 10 a.m. ET. Despite its size, Nevada holds a significant record in presidential elections. The state has historically predicted the eventual White House occupant in 27 of the last 30 elections. The polls stay open until 10 p.m. ET in Nevada, and vote results are only released after everyone in the line has cast their vote, which typically results in a delay post poll closing time.
In North Carolina, the polls begin at 6:30 a.m. ET. Remarkably, Democrats managed to narrow the gap in 2020, an impressive feat since they had only won twice here in presidential elections since 1968. However, the competitive nature of the state persists for both major parties. Trump’s victory remains on the record – albeit by a marginal 1 percentage point – indicating the smallest winning margin he sustained in any state. The voting procedure concludes at 7:30 p.m. ET in North Carolina.
In Pennsylvania, another ‘blue wall’ state, the polls open at 7 a.m. ET, where Biden’s margin in the 2020 election was very tight – approximately 80,000 votes out of an overwhelming 6.9 million votes. The state also holds the record of hosting the sole staged debate between Harris and Trump in Philadelphia. The state of Pennsylvania stops voting at 8 p.m. ET and remains significant due to the massive 19 electoral votes it possesses, more than any battleground state.
Lastly, Wisconsin opens its polling stations at 8 a.m. ET. It features as the third key ‘blue wall’ state. Notably, the state has shown a pattern of closely contested elections, with winning margins less than one percentage point recorded in 2020, 2016, 2004, and 2000. These polling booths remain open until 9 p.m. ET.