Voters in Alabama received the results of their elections on Tuesday night before officials in Washington, D.C. began releasing their results, despite both jurisdictions closing their polls at the same time. Polling stations in both areas officially closed at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Alabama reported the majority of its votes within an hour, with the Associated Press calling the results at 8:40 p.m. and 9:31 p.m. for different races. In contrast, D.C. began counting votes at 10:47 p.m., around the time the Associated Press declared Rep. Barry Moore the winner of Alabama’s GOP primary.
Democratic-led jurisdictions, including California and Washington, D.C., have faced criticism regarding their vote counting processes. Critics argue that the delays undermine public confidence, while election officials defend their timelines due to mail-in ballot rules and verification requirements. In D.C., delays were attributed to long lines at polling places and the use of ranked-choice voting, which can complicate the counting process. As of the publication time, less than 70% of ballots had been counted in D.C., with approximately 100,000 ballots cast compared to around 400,000 in Alabama.
The D.C. Board of Elections did not respond to a request for comment regarding the delays.