The very first results in the New Hampshire primary became available within minutes of midnight on Tuesday.
But beyond Dixville Notch, where polling opened at midnight for the small town’s six registered voters and closed soon afterward, voting locations in most of the rest of the state will be open until 7 p.m. Eastern time. Initial results will most likely become available soon after that.
David Scanlan, the secretary of state, said he expected that most votes would be counted on Tuesday night. News media outlets are likely to call the race before all ballots are counted, whenever a winner becomes apparent.
The Associated Press does not expect to make a call before 8 p.m., when the last polls close. But in 2016, its call in the Republican primaries came right at 8 p.m.
Results in the Democratic race might come in later because it will take election workers extra time to count the write-in votes for President Biden, who is not on the ballot after New Hampshire fought his decision to push the state back on the party’s nominating calendar. The results may be slightly delayed, but state officials expect them to be counted before the end of the night.
“Several of the larger communities have recruited extra volunteers to help with the process, so we are not expecting huge delays,” said Anna Sventek, the communications director for the New Hampshire Department of State.
