When will we get results on Super Tuesday?
The states voting today span the country, and millions of Americans will visit the polls from the time the sun rises off the coast of Maine to the time it sets in Alaska. Due to the different time zones, some results may come in early, while others may come in late, perhaps very late.
This is what we know about the night (all times are oriental):
Iowa Democrats could be the first.
They lost their status as first in the country this cycle, but tonight they could at least be the first to announce results. Results from the first mail-only caucus are expected around 6 p.m The Associated Press. (Iowa Republicans, of course, retained their earlier statehood bragging rights and voted in January.)
Next: Vermont and Virginia.
The first Republican results on Tuesday are likely to come from Vermont and Virginia, where polls close at 7 p.m. at the earliest. Vote counting should begin shortly thereafter. Both Democrats and Republicans hold presidential primaries in these states.
In North Carolina, polls close at 7:30 p.m
Both parties are holding presidential primaries and primaries to succeed Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat who can no longer run for office because of term limits. While North Carolina has been quick to charge in the past, the new legislation is changing how the state will count his voices. Election officials used to be able to get a head start by counting early votes before the polls closed. That would have helped them announce some results as early as 7:30 p.m., but this year they’ll have to wait until the polls end on Election Day before they can start tabling early ballots.
Many states close voting at 8 p.m
Alabama, Massachusetts, Maine, Oklahoma and Tennessee will close their polls at 8 p.m. Most polling places in Texas will also close, although two counties in the western part of the state are in a different time zone and will continue voting for another hour. Don’t expect any race calls in Texas from The Associated Press until all polling places in the state are closed.
Three more states and one territory will be ready by 9 p.m.
Polls in Arkansas close at 8:30 p.m. and the American Samoa Democratic caucus will also end at that time.
Polls in Colorado and Minnesota will then close at 9 p.m. During Minnesota’s Democratic primaries, attention will once again turn to an “unaffirmed” voting campaign as a way to protest President Biden’s handling of the war in Gaza. The movement made itself heard in Michigan last week.
Utah Democrats claim the 10 p.m. spot.
Polls for Utah’s Democratic primaries close at 10 p.m., and early results will likely be available shortly afterward. But Utah Republicans, who are participating in a caucus rather than a primary, likely won’t start reporting results for another hour.
Representative-rich California is one of the last states to end voting.
Polls in California, the most populous state, close at 11 p.m. But don’t expect many results right away. California is known for its slowness in counting votes, mainly because counting the ballots just takes longer and the state largely relies on voting by mail – 91 percent of ballots were cast by mail in the 2022 primary election.
California’s 22 million registered voters will automatically receive mail-in ballots, although they also have the option to vote in person. Mail-in ballots must be postmarked on or before Election Day so that valid votes can still come in and be counted well after Tuesday evening.
Competitive contests, such as the Senate primaries in the race to succeed Dianne Feinstein, who died last year, may not be decided Tuesday evening. According to the 2022 midterm primaries, less than half of all ballots had been counted by 6:10 a.m. Eastern time the next day. The AP
Alaska will bring up the rear.
While California may take the longest to count its votes, it won’t be the last state to close the polls on Tuesday. That will be Alaska, where voting will remain open until midnight.