Wyoming and Alaska go to primary elections on Tuesday. While the former sees incumbent Liz Cheney, the face of Republican resistance to former President Donald Trump, fight for her seat,  Sarah Palin seeks a return to elected office in the latter. 

Given the states’ locations in the western time zones, Eastern Time is four hours ahead of Alaska and two hours from Wyoming, most of the United States should be asleep when a definitive result comes out. 

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In Wyoming, a battle between Cheney, who is the vice chair for the January 6 Select Committee investigating Trump’s role in the Capitol riots, and Harriet Hageman is expected to be the highlight. The former has trailed in most major polls. The polls in the state do not close until 9 PM Eastern time.

Wyoming, unlike other states, does not report interim results in real time online. Hence, only complete tallies, once received will be published, Monique Meese, a spokeswoman for Wyoming’s secretary of state said. 

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“But Wyoming’s recent election history suggests that The Associated Press should be able to determine who won in all but the closest races by Wednesday,” Stephen Ohlemacher, The Associate Press’ election decision editor said. 

In 2020, the results were out at 2:49 AM Eastern time. 

Alaska rolled out several changes to how its residents vote in primary and general elections. The state will has created an open primary system, which means candidates from all parties will appear on a single ballot. The top four vote-getters move onto the general election.

Voters will rank their preferences. A candidate with simple majority in the first round of vote counting will automatically win the election. 

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Most polls in Alaska will not close until midnight Eastern time. Results will come online starting 1 AM ET, said Gail Fenumiai, director of the state’s Division of Elections.

“But the initial results will reflect only votes cast in person on Tuesday and those cast at early-voting centers,” Ohlemacher said. The additional results will be released on August 23, August 26 and August 31. 

Only first-choice votes will be released on election night, AP reported.