It is never easy to say when exactly the results of an election will be known, and the changes in voting methods since the pandemic started have made it harder still. Depending on the state and the race, the wait for results can take anywhere from a few minutes to more than a month after the polls close.
In Texas, however, the calculations are simplified by the fact that almost everyone is required to vote in person. Unlike many states, Texas has very narrow eligibility criteria for mail-in ballots, which can take longer to count.
Most polls will close at 8 p.m. Eastern time. (A small sliver of locations around El Paso, which is in a different time zone from the rest of the state, will close an hour later.) And while primary results tend to take longer than general election results because there are two elections — one Republican and one Democratic — to administer, we should have mostly complete results within a few hours.
In-person early voting ran from Feb. 14 to Feb. 25, and the votes cast during that period should be reported very quickly after the polls close. Then the votes cast on Election Day have to be counted.
A very small number of mail-in ballots may arrive after Election Day, but they are not likely to delay the calling of winners in any but the most razor-thin races. And because these are primaries, there’s no need to worry about “mirages,” in which early returns are skewed by Democrats and Republicans using different voting methods.
By 1 a.m. Eastern time on Wednesday, according to state officials, most results should be reported.
Alicia Parlapiano contributed reporting.
