What Time Do Polls Open on Election Day? DC Votes 7 to 8, Maryland 7 to 8, Virginia 6 to 7
"What time do polls open" and "voting near me" are among the most-searched questions in the country on the eve of Election Day. Here are the capital region's hours, line rules and mail-ballot deadlines for Tuesday, in one place.
The searches tell the story of the night before an election: "what time do polls open on election day" and "voting near me" both sit in the top tier of US search interest on Monday, alongside "is there school on election day" — a question this station's no-school file for DCPS and MCPS already answered for Monday and Tuesday. For the voting itself, the capital region runs on three different clocks on Tuesday.
In the District, vote centers are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., and a voter can cast a ballot at any voting center in the District regardless of where they live; anyone in line at 8 p.m. may still vote. Mailed ballots must be postmarked on or before Election Day and arrive within 10 days, and drop-box ballots are due by 8 p.m. on Election Day. District voters choose a successor to Mayor Muriel Bowser — Democrat Janeese Lewis George, independent Rhonda Hamilton or DC Statehood Green Party candidate Robert L. Gross — plus two at-large Council seats and a ballot measure on foie gras, with ranked-choice voting used in races with three or more candidates and noncitizen residents eligible in local races only.
Maryland's polls are also open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., at the polling place assigned to a voter's address, with in-person registration available on Election Day itself. Mailed ballots must be postmarked on or before November 3 and received by 10 a.m. on the second Friday after Election Day, or delivered to an official drop box or a local board of elections by 8 p.m. on November 3. Marylanders decide whether Democratic Gov. Wes Moore wins a second term against Republican Dan Cox and Green Party candidate Andy Ellis, and all eight of the state's US House seats are on the ballot.
Virginia opens earliest and closes earliest: polls run 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., and anyone in line by 7 p.m. can vote. Mailed ballots must be postmarked by Election Day and received by Friday, November 6, and eligible residents who missed the registration deadline can still register and vote by provisional ballot through Election Day. Every Virginia ballot carries US House races and three proposed amendments to the state constitution, and Democratic Sen. Mark Warner is seeking another term against Republican Bert Mizusawa.
