What Time Will New York Primary Results Be Out?

Tuesday is a day that may represent a major turning point in this presidential election, for both the Democratic and Republican candidates. Democrats have a chance at 247 pledged delegates of the 2,383 total that a presidential hopeful needs to earn the nomination; Republicans have a shot at 95 toward their 1,237 delegate total. In other words, this state is a big deal, and particularly so, considering how close these races are becoming, especially on the Democratic side, Clinton and Sanders are only 251 pledged delegates apart. With a race of this magnitude, what time will New York primary results come out?

According to the New York State Board of Elections, the polling times vary a bit. In New York City and the counties of Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland, Orange, Putnam, and Erie, polls will open at 6 a.m. and close at 9 p.m. In all other counties, polls will open at noon and close at 9 p.m., which means that results will start appearing in the mid-late evening hours. Typically, a state begins revealing its results either just after polls close, or alternately, after a certain percentage of votes are in and a veritable source can get a hold of them.

The New York Times explains that live results and delegate counts are reported by the Associated Press — an effort that requires the help of correspondents sent to local government offices around the states in question. From there, reporters gather vote tallies from state, county, and municipal local officials. Data from local governments are used, and results are usually released after polls close.

In the case of New York on April 19, Americans can likely expect the final results well into the evening. A 9 p.m. closing time is fairly late in comparison to some states, especially since New York is in Eastern Standard Time — not to mention New Yorkers' collective confusion about whether or not they are actually eligible to vote. For instance, the Empire State has the New York has the earliest change-of-party deadline of any closed primary state in the country; this occurs six months prior to the actual primary.

The verdict? Expect some delays on election results that night. It's possible that the results may not see finalization until the next morning, but regardless, these results are worth the wait.