Election Results Tonight Could Arrive Faster than Normal

Polls in Georgia will remain open until 7:00 tonight.   All eyes will be focused on the Governor's race, where Republican Brian Kemp hopes to serve another term and Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams is making a second attempt to unseat him.   In the all-important Georgia Senate race, Incumbent Raphael Warnock and Republican opponent Herschel Walker were still in a dead-heat, according to the latest polls before election day.  A reminder that anyone who is in line waiting to vote when the 7:00 deadline arrives will still be allowed to cast a ballot.

State Board of Election officials says faster results can be expected tonight once the polls close.

Gabriel Sterling, interim deputy secretary of state, says about one-third of Georgia's counties plan to start counting early voting and absentee ballots before 7:00 p.m, but they're not allowed to publicly report results until the polls are closed.  Those who are counting votes will be sequestered to prevent any information leaks.

According to Georgia's new voting law passed last year, ballot counting "shall not cease until finished."  A tally of all verified absentee ballots must be completed by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, the day after Election Day.  The law also allows counties to start opening and scanning absentee ballots 15 days before Election Day, but they can't be tabulated ahead of time.  In most cases, results will begin to be posted around 7:30 p.m but in tight races that might not be the case.  Some contests may hinge on results of military, overseas and provisional ballots that don't have to be returned until the Monday after Election Day.  Official results of today's election won't be certified by counties until a week from today, November 15.