Polls don’t close in California until 8 p.m. but voters out West will be hearing returns – and probably a number of declared winners – long before then.

With a record 23 states participating in ‘Tsunami Tuesday,’ here’s a chronology of how the day will play out for those on the West Coast. (All times are listed as Pacific Standard Time.)

4 p.m. (PST) – Polls close in Georgia.

5 p.m. (PST) – Polls close in Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Tennessee, which are all holding primaries. Democratic caucus begins in Kansas.

5:30 p.m. (PST) – Polls close on open primary in Arkansas

6 p.m. (PST) – Polls close in New York and Arizona; Caucuses begin in Colorado, New Mexico, Minnesota and Idaho; West Virginia GOP delegate-selection convention begins.

7 p.m. (PST) – Polls close in Utah; latest close for caucuses in North Dakota and Republican caucus in Montana.

8 p.m. Polls close in California.

10:30 p.m. – Latest close for GOP caucuses in Alaska. Latest close for Democrats is 9:30 p.m. (PST)

Note: By 10 p.m., Californians will probably have a pretty good idea of how the ballot propositions did. And, if Sen. John McCain’s support holds out, they could have a clear idea of the GOP nominees. But with more than a million absentee ballots expected to be filed late, it’s possible that the outcome of the Democratic race won’t be known until the next day – or later.

The bigger question, how might the early returns (around 6 p.m. or so) from Georgia, Alabama, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Delaware, Connecticut, Illinois, Oklahoma, Missouri and Tennessee discourage – or encourage – voters in California where the polls will still be open for two more hours?

– Paul Gullixson