This chart reflects the poll closing times used by the networks and other media outlets on Election Night. There is an "unenforced pledge" to not project a winner in a state until that state's polls have closed (which, to the media, means "most of the state's polls have closed").

Below the chart is an outline of potential difficulties which may occur when a state is spans time zones. (Poll closing times are extended for voters still in line when the hour of poll closing has arrived.)
 

Time

Zone

EST

CST

MST

PST

AK

HI

State

Electoral
Votes

Total
Vote

6:00p
EST

5:00p
CST

4:00p
MST

3:00p
PST

2:00p
AK

1:00p
HI

Indiana (EST)

12

12

Kentucky (EST)

8

20

20 total electoral votes by 6:00 EST

7:00p
EST

6:00p
CST

5:00p
MST

4:00p
PST

3:00p
AK

2:00p
HI

Florida (EST)

25

45

Georgia

13

58

New Hampshire (EST)

4

62

South Carolina

8

70

Vermont

3

73

Virginia

13

86

7:00p
EST

6:00p
CST

5:00p
MST

4:00p
PST

3:00p
AK

2:00p
HI

Indiana (CST)

Kentucky (CST)

86 total electoral votes by 7:00 EST

7:30p
EST

6:30p
CST

5:30p
MST

4:30p
PST

3:30p
AK

2:30p
HI

North Carolina

14

100

Ohio

21

121

West Virginia

5

126

126 total electoral votes by 7:30 EST

8:00p
EST

7:00p
CST

6:00p
MST

5:00p
PST

4:00p
AK

3:00p
HI

Connecticut

8

134

Delaware

3

137

District of Columbia

3

140

Maine

4

144

Maryland

10

154

Massachusetts

12

166

Michigan (EST)

18

184

New Hampshire (EST)

New Jersey

15

199

Pennsylvania

23

222

8:00p
EST

7:00p
CST

6:00p
MST

5:00p
PST

4:00p
AK

3:00p
HI

Alabama

9

231

Florida (CST)

Illinois

22

253

Mississippi

7

260

Missouri

11

271

Oklahoma

8

279

Texas (CST)

32

322

8:00p
EST

7:00p
CST

6:00p
MST

5:00p
PST

4:00p
AK

3:00p
HI

Tennessee

11

290

322 total electoral votes by 8:00 EST

This is the earliest at which a candidate could be projected to have been elected the next President of the United States, assuming a candidate has been projected to win the necessary 270 electoral votes to be elected.

8:30p
EST

7:30p
CST

6:30p
MST

5:30p
PST

4:30p
AK

3:30p
HI

Arkansas

6

328

8:30p
EST

7:30p
CST

6:30p
MST

5:30p
PST

4:30p
AK

3:30p
HI

North Carolina

328 total electoral votes by 8:30 EST

9:00p
EST

8:00p
CST

7:00p
MST

6:00p
PST

5:00p
AK

4:00p
HI

New York

33

361

Rhode Island

4

365

9:00p
EST

8:00p
CST

7:00p
MST

6:00p
PST

5:00p
AK

4:00p
HI

Kansas

6

371

Louisiana

9

380

Michigan (CST)

Minnesota

10

390

Wisconsin

11

409

9:00p
EST

8:00p
CST

7:00p
MST

6:00p
PST

5:00p
AK

4:00p
HI

Arizona

8

417

Colorado

8

425

New Mexico

5

430

Texas (MST)

Wyoming

3

433

9:00p
EST

8:00p
CST

7:00p
MST

6:00p
PST

5:00p
AK

4:00p
HI

Nebraska

5

395

South Dakota

3

398

433 total electoral votes by 9:00 EST

10:00p
EST

9:00p
CST

8:00p
MST

7:00p
PST

6:00p
AK

5:00p
HI

Iowa

7

440

North Dakota (CST)

3

443

10:00p
EST

9:00p
CST

8:00p
MST

7:00p
PST

6:00p
AK

5:00p
HI

Idaho (MST)

4

447

Montana

3

450

Oregon (MST)

Utah

5

455

10:00p
EST

9:00p
CST

8:00p
MST

7:00p
PST

6:00p
AK

5:00p
HI

Nevada

4

459

459 total electoral votes by 10:00 EST

11:00p
EST

10:00p
CST

9:00p
MST

8:00p
PST

7:00p
AK

6:00p
HI

North Dakota (MST)

11:00p
EST

10:00p
CST

9:00p
MST

8:00p
PST

7:00p
AK

6:00p
HI

California

54

513

Idaho (PST)

Oregon (PST)

7

520

Washington

11

531

11:00p
EST

10:00p
CST

9:00p
MST

8:00p
PST

7:00p
AK

6:00p
HI

Hawaii

4

535

535 total electoral votes by 11:00 EST

12:00a
EST

11:00p
CST

10:00p
MST

9:00p
PST

8:00p
AK

7:00p
HI

Alaska

3

538

538 total electoral votes by Midnight EST

The polls will have closed in all states.

KANSAS - 8 pm CST or 7 pm MST
Polls close at either 7 pm or 8 pm local time by local option. Closing at 7 pm MST is not mandated for locales in that time zone. Relatively few MST locales in KANSAS do, in fact, close their polls at 7 pm local time (MST) in order to have virtually the entire state's polls closed by 8 pm CST. There COULD be a few isolated polls in the far western portions of the state which remain open for an additional hour- 9 pm CST/8 pm MST.

NEBRASKA - 8 pm CST/7 pm MST
The polls close at the same GMT/UTC time, that is, polls close at a particular local time in the advanced time zone and close one hour earlier local time in the lagging time zone.

SOUTH DAKOTA - 8 pm CST/7 pm MST
The polls close at the same GMT/UTC time, that is, polls close at a particular local time in the advanced time zone and close one hour earlier local time in the lagging time zone.

TENNESSEE - 8 pm EST/7 pm CST
The polls close at the same GMT/UTC time, that is, polls close at a particular local time in the advanced time zone and close one hour earlier local time in the lagging time zone.

The following states close their polls at the "prevailing time" (that is, whatever the local time happens to be- regardless of the time zone).

FLORIDA - 7 pm in both EST and CST
INDIANA - 6 pm in both EST and CST
MICHIGAN - 8 pm in both EST and CST
In these three EST/CST states relatively small portions of the states are in CST and so the vast majority of the polls are closed by the time indicated EST, when the networks feel they can project.

KENTUCKY - 6 pm in both EST and CST
Poll closing time could be rather problematic in KENTUCKY. A large chunk of the state is in CST [but the networks consider that "most of the polls have closed" in KENTUCKY by 6 pm EST and so, if they can, project at the same time they project INDIANA]. CST voters in KENTUCKY may note the networks' willingness/eagerness to project a winner as early as 6 pm EST.

IDAHO - 8 pm MST and PST
A sizable part of IDAHO is in PST but, as the MST section is the much more populated portion of the state, the networks consider that "most of the polls in IDAHO" are closed by 8 pm MST.

NEW HAMPSHIRE
NEW HAMPSHIRE permits its 13 cities to keep their polls open until 8 pm EST by local option- however, as there ARE only 13 cities among New Hampshire's 234 County subdivisions [the 221 "non-cities", of course, being the proverbial New England Town(ship)], the fact is that the vast majority of NH's polls have closed by 7 pm EST and the networks have no problem considering this hour as the earliest hour of potential projection.

NORTH CAROLINA
NORTH CAROLINA allows its County Boards of Elections to decide whether to keep polls open until 8:30 p.m. EST but, outside of metropolitan areas, this local option is not often utilized and so 7:30 p.m. EST is the networks' earliest time of projection beacuse the vast majority of that state's polls will have closed by that hour.

NORTH DAKOTA - 9 pm CST and MST
The western half of the state is in MST but that is, of course, the more sparsely populated part of the state, so it is not as problematic to the networks as might be otherwise suggested by simple geography.

OREGON - 8 pm PST and MST
OREGON is the reverse of the norm because the by far largest portion of the state is in the lagging time zone and the networks have no choice but to not consider the OREGON polls closed until 8 pm PST.

TEXAS - 7 pm CST and MST
The only the area surrounding El Paso is in MST- so the vast majority of the polls have closed in TX by 7 pm CST.

UCT: Universal Coordinated Time, Greenwich England
EST: Eastern Standard Time, UCT - 5 hours
CST: Central Standard Time, UCT - 6 hours
MST: Mountain Standard Time, UCT - 7 hours
PST: Pacific Standard Time, UCT - 8 hours
AK: Alaska Time, UCT - 9 hours
HI: Hawaii Time, UCT - 10 hours
m: midnight
a: AM
p: PM