It says January 2nd so can I assume it means January 2nd 11:59 pm at the latest?
Make sure you take time zone into account…
Regardless of time zone, when it says that the deadline is January 1, does this mean January 1 11:59 pm or December 31 11:59 pm?
Time zone doesn’t matter. It has to be submitted before January 2nd 11:59 in your time zone.