Voters in Alabama received the results of their elections on Tuesday night before officials in Washington, D.C. started counting votes, despite both jurisdictions closing their polls at the same time. Both Alabama and D.C. closed polling stations at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Alabama reported most of its results within about an hour, with the Associated Press declaring winners at 8:40 p.m. and 9:31 p.m. respectively. In contrast, D.C. began counting votes at 10:47 p.m., around the time the Associated Press announced the winner of Alabama’s GOP primary.
Critics, including Republicans and election-integrity advocates, have raised concerns about the prolonged counting process in Democratic-led jurisdictions like D.C. and California, arguing it undermines public confidence. Election officials in these areas defend their timelines, citing the need for mail-in ballot rules, postmark deadlines, and verification requirements to ensure every lawful vote is counted.
D.C. faced delays in counting due to long lines at polling places, which kept some open past the scheduled closing time. Additionally, the large volume of mail ballots and the implementation of ranked-choice voting contributed to the delays. As of the article's publication, less than 70% of ballots had been counted in D.C., with approximately 400,000 votes cast in Alabama compared to around 100,000 in D.C. on the same night. The D.C. Board of Elections did not respond to a request for comment regarding the delays.