When will we know Washington’s 2026 election results?

The count by the hour, election night 2024

The biggest counties, and when each was in

Each percentage is of that county’s own final count, not of the state’s. “none” means the feed showed no votes yet; “not measured” means the feed did not carry the county’s count at that time, which is not the same as zero. A time after 2:37 AM is the first archived copy at that level; the archive has no copy between 2:37 AM and 2:37 PM on Nov. 6, so the count may have passed it earlier.

What comes late, and why

Takes days. Ballots cannot be tabulated until 8 p.m. local on Election Day; the first report (about 8:15 p.m. local) is ballots already received, then counties update daily, and ballots postmarked by Election Day count until the day before certification (about 21 days). About 81% of the 2020 vote was reported by midnight ET; MIT says Washington was close to final about 10 days after the 2024 election.

Sources: AP Decision Notes: What to expect in Washington on Election Day (AP, syndicated by iNFOnews); Washington Secretary of State: What to expect on election night and the days following Election Day; MIT Election Data + Science Lab: How long did it take to count the vote in 2024? (Baltz); Newsweek: Map shows when mail-in ballots must arrive in each state (2026). These describe the 2020, 2022 and 2024 elections and the rules in force when they were read; they are not a statement about 2026.

The 2026 races here

• House WA-03Tilt DPerez (D) vs. Braun (R)

See every race in Washington, print the Election Night Guide to follow the count, or make your calls in the prediction game.