Arkansas voters decide Senate, governor and state races in Tuesday's election

First results are expected to come almost entirely from early and absentee ballots

Arkansas voters elect leaders for federal, state and local offices on Tuesday in the state’s 2026 midterm general election. Polls close at 7:30 p.m. local time, which is 8:30 p.m. Eastern.

The Associated Press will provide vote results and declare winners in races for U.S. Senate, governor, U.S. House, mayor of Little Rock, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, statewide ballot measures, state Senate, state House and land commissioner.

The benchmarks come from the AP Decision Team, the outlet’s elections data unit, which published the data points it will monitor as the votes are tallied.

Recent turnout offers one benchmark. About 900,000 votes were cast in Arkansas’s 2022 race for U.S. Senate, the AP reported, and about 56% of them were cast early or by absentee ballot. The AP’s advance vote tracker carries the state’s latest advance-vote totals.

The order of results is distinctive. All Arkansas counties are expected to release all or nearly all early and absentee results in the first vote update of the night, before any in-person Election Day results are released, according to the AP.

About a third of counties — mostly among the least populated in the state — also release all of their in-person Election Day results in the first vote report, the AP said. Most of the state releases little to no Election Day results at the start of the night.

The 2024 general election offers a template for the pace. The first results were reported starting at 8:35 p.m. Eastern on Nov. 5 — five minutes after polls closed. The state reached 50% of votes reporting at 9:42 p.m. Eastern, and 90% of votes reporting at 11:39 p.m. Eastern.

The AP does not make projections. It declares a winner only when it determines there is no scenario that would allow a trailing candidate to close the gap.

If a race has not been called, the AP will continue to cover newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory, while making clear that it has not declared a winner and explaining why.

Arkansas does not have automatic recounts, according to the AP. Candidates may request and pay for a recount, with the costs refunded if the outcome changes. The AP may declare a winner in a race subject to a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.

The AP said its vote results and race calls will be available at its 2026 election coverage hub.