How to Vote for 2026 ‘American Idol’ Winner

Season 24 of “American Idol” crowns its winner on May 11, 2026, with three contestants left in the competition: Hannah Harper, Jordan McCullough, and Keyla Richardson.

During the three-hour finale, viewers can vote for their favorites using three different methods — with one of the singers landing in third place midway through the show. That means it’s important to cast votes early on if you’re hoping a particular contestant makes it to the Top 2. There are some significant changes to the voting system in 2026, so here’s a primer on how to make sure your votes count tonight.

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‘American Idol’ Has New Social Media Voting in 2026: How It Works

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In 2026, “American Idol” became the first reality TV competition to allow voting via social media platforms, per Deadline. This format has replaced the “American Idol” app that many fans have used in the past to vote for their favorite singers, but the rollout has faced some issues, so it’s important to follow the instructions carefully.

Here’s how it works. As the finale starts at 8 p.m. Eastern time, a special voting post will be pinned to the TOP of the “American Idol” Instagram account, Facebook account, and TikTok accounts. Look for the purple post that shows the Top 3 performers and how to spell their names. This post is where you will cast your votes, in the comment section.

In the voting post on EACH social media platform, you can vote up to 10 times for each contestant by typing in the singer’s FIRST name only in 10 separate comments. For example, if you want to cast a vote for Keyla Richardson, you’d type in KEYLA — nothing else — in up to 10 separate comments.

IMPORTANT! Here’s how to ensure your votes get counted:

• Do NOT try to take a shortcut and write something like “HANNAH x 10” or “10 Votes for HANNAH.” Each comment only equals one vote.
• Do NOT reply to your own comments or others’ comments with a contestant’s name. Replies will not be counted, only original comments.
• Do NOT post more than one name in a comment. Only the first name in a comment will be counted. So, if you try to write something like “Keyla & Jordan” that would only earn a vote for Keyla.

Only viewers 18 and older are allowed to participate in social voting, per ABC’s rules, with votes accepted until the last commercial break of each live episode.

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2 Other Ways to Vote During the ‘American Idol’ Season 24 Finale

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While the social voting is new, “American Idol” is keeping its online voting and text voting for now, too. Viewers can use these tactics to increase the number of votes they cast.

For online voting, go to AmericanIdol.com/Vote as each episode starts and you’ll be able to cast up to 10 votes per contestant you’d like to see move on in the competition. If you don’t already have a MyDisney account, you’ll be able to create one with your email address. To vote online, you must be at least 16 years old and located in the U.S., Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin Islands, per ABC’s rules.

For voting by text, you can text a favorite contestant’s unique number to “21523” as soon as each episode starts (8 p.m. Eastern time). You can do this up to 10 times. Each contestant is keeping the original number they were assigned when viewer voting began. The remaining contestants’ numbers are below:

• Hannah Harper — Text 8 to 21523
• Jordan McCullough — Text 14 to 21523
• Keyla Richardson — Text 20 to 21523

As with the social vote, online and text votes also end during the final commercial break of the live show, just before 11 p.m. Eastern time. The winner will be announced by Seacrest live during the final moments of the finale — good luck to your favorite!