King County elections begin posting Washington results after polls close at 8:00 p.m. Tuesday. State residents can still register to vote or update a voter registration in person before then at local county election offices.
Results for Washington races will appear once the polls close, and more votes will be released every afternoon this week around 4 p.m. For readers following the 2026 Washington General Election, that means the first numbers are only the start of the count, not the final one.
Washington Secretary of State’s Office timeline
The Washington Secretary of State’s Office has until Dec. 3 to certify statewide results, while counties will certify their results on Nov. 24. Those dates set the outer edge of the reporting process after Election Day, when early returns can change as additional ballots are added during the week.
Cascade PBS will have election night coverage from 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, spanning the hours before polls close and the first release of results. That window gives voters a live look at how the count begins before later afternoon updates fill in the picture.
Election Day reporting pace
The timing creates a split pace for anyone watching the race in King County and across Washington. Polls close at 8:00 p.m. Tuesday, but the count keeps moving after that as counties continue releasing votes every afternoon around 4 p.m. this week.
For readers trying to track a specific contest, the live results page is built to update as new totals come in rather than freeze at the first posting. The practical takeaway is simple: the first batch of numbers arrives Tuesday night, and the count continues through county certification on Nov. 24 and statewide certification by Dec. 3.
