Election Night, Hour by Hour: The Altas Viewer's Guide to the Races That Decide Congress

All 435 House seats, 35 Senate seats and 36 governorships are on the ballot. Here is when the polls close, which races to watch and why the count may run for days.

By Clara Hughes

Tonight Americans find out what kind of Congress President Trump will work with for the final two years of his term. All 435 House seats and 35 Senate seats are on the ballot, and 36 states are electing governors. More than 57 million Americans voted early, according to the University of Florida Voting Lab, as reported by CBS News. The first polls close at 6 p.m. Eastern in the eastern parts of Indiana and Kentucky. The last close at 1 a.m. Eastern in Alaska. In between are the hours that will decide the Senate. A word of caution before the first number appears on your screen. "Vote counting will start Tuesday night but could go on for days or even weeks," NPR notes. Early returns can swing hard either way depending on whether a county counts mail ballots or Election Day votes first. Patience is a patriot's virtue tonight. Keep reading with Altas Premium. Below: our hour-by-hour guide to poll closings, the