What to expect after the polls close in NC primary election

North Carolinians are heading to the polls on Tuesday to vote in the primary election and usually start seeing results on election night immediately after polls close at 7:30 p.m. But this year, people will have to wait longer than usual for results.

Due to changes in state law , a delay will occur in the reporting of in-person early voting results, which may also cause a delay in Election Day results, according to a press release by the N.C. State Board of Elections.

Before, county board of elections could count early voting results before polls closed and report the results immediately after the polls close on election day at 7:30 p.m.

But under the new changes , county boards of elections will have to wait until after the polls close to start the counting and reporting results of early voting ballots.

“Those who watch election results in North Carolina have come to expect a large chunk of results very soon after polls close,” said Karen Brinson Bell , the executive director of the State Board of Elections, in the press release.

“That will not happen this year, although the State Board and county boards of elections remain committed to providing unofficial results as quickly as possible. We ask for patience from voters and candidates as election officials comply with changes to election laws that affect election night processes.”

This is the first election in which the changes to vote counting and reporting of results are being implemented and elections officials do not know exactly how long the delay could be or when the results will be likely to be reported, according to the Board. The process could take 30 to 60 minutes and possibly longer in some counties before unofficial results are reported here .

Absentee-by-mail results, however, are unchanged and can be counted before the polls close. Absentee voting results will probably be the first set of results available to the public after polls close. The unofficial absentee voting results can be accessed on the North Carolina State Board of Elecions website on election night between 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.

After 8 p.m., in-person early voting results might begin being reported, according to the Board’s rough timeline of the expected reporting of unofficial election night results. Around the same time, from 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., precinct officials are expected to hand-deliver results to county boards of elections across the state. Between 8 p.m. to 12 a.m., precinct results will be reported.

In the days after polls close on election night, military and overseas absentee ballots received by the county board of elections and provisional votes will be included in the results as they are approved by the boards during the canvass period , or the official process of verifying that votes have been counted and tabulated accurately.

Canvass meetings are required by each county board of elections at 11 a.m., Friday, March 15. The primary election results will then be finalized by the State Board of Elections when it meets at 11 a.m., Tuesday, March 26.

Issues related to challenges, provisional ballots, recount requests and determining the need for runoffs, if any, will also be decided during the canvass process , though some decisions could be appealed later.