North Dakota voters decide House, statewide and legislative races Tuesday

Polls close at 7 p.m. local time across two time zones

North Dakota voters will elect leaders for federal, state and other offices in Tuesday’s midterm election, according to an Associated Press preview of the contest. The AP will provide vote results and declare winners in races for U.S. House, attorney general, secretary of state, statewide ballot measures, state Supreme Court, state Senate, state House, agriculture commissioner, Public Service Commissioner, state superintendent of public instruction and Tax Commissioner.

Polls close at 7 p.m. local time, which is 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. Eastern, because North Dakota spans the Central and Mountain time zones.

The 2022 midterm offers a turnout baseline: about 240,000 votes were cast in North Dakota’s U.S. Senate race that year, and about 44% of ballots in that contest were cast early or by absentee, according to the AP. The latest advance vote totals for the state are available in the AP’s advance vote tracker.

How quickly results arrive will depend in part on county reporting habits. Almost every North Dakota county is expected to release all or almost all of its results in the first vote report of the night, regardless of vote type, according to the AP.

Three of the state’s most populous counties — Cass, Grand Forks and Ward — are expected to release all or almost all of their mail-voting results in the first report of the night, before releasing any in-person Election Day results. In Burleigh County, the order is reversed: most in-person Election Day results, and no early or mail results, are expected at the start of the night.

Recent history points to a fast count. In the 2024 election, the first North Dakota results were reported starting at 8:25 p.m. Eastern, 25 minutes after the first polls closed. The state reached 50% of votes reporting at 10:35 p.m. Eastern and 90% at midnight.

The Associated Press does not make projections. It declares a winner only when it has determined there is “no scenario that would allow a trailing candidate to close the gap,” the AP says. If a race remains uncalled, 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.

Recounts in North Dakota are automatic if the margin of victory is 0.5% or less of votes cast for the leading candidate. A recount can also be requested if the margin is more than 0.5% but less than 2% of the top vote-getter’s vote total. Even in a race subject to a recount, the AP may declare a winner if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.

The AP Decision Team says it will monitor these data points as the votes are tallied. Because counties are expected to release different mixes of early, mail and in-person ballots at the start of the night, the makeup of the earliest returns will vary from one part of the state to another.