ALBANY – This much we know: Joe Biden won the New York Democratic presidential primary Tuesday.
As for many of the key congressional, state and local primaries across the state? Results could still be weeks away.
The spread of COVID-19 forced New York into a primary like no other on Tuesday, with more people appearing to cast their ballot by absentee rather than showing up to the polls.
Early results Tuesday night suggested more people cast their ballots by mail than in person.
That is causing a major logistical challenge for county election boards, which will be tasked with counting up to 1.7 million absentee ballots — more than 10 times the amount of the last presidential primary year in 2016.
It all means some key races may not be decided for more than a week.
"It's going to take a while to finalize all the numbers," said Kelly Penziul, president of the state Election Commissioners' Association and a Steuben County elections commissioner. "We have a process we have to follow."
Here are four things to know about Tuesday's primary:
Absentee counting won't even start until July 1
Absentee ballots in New York had to be postmarked by Tuesday in order to be counted in the primary elections.
But they can continue trickling in to county election boards through June 30.
That means up to 1.7 million ballots won't be opened until July 1 at the earliest. And even then, it will take time to crosscheck voter rolls and other counties' records to ensure nobody voted twice even before officials get the chance to count up the votes.
Several counties, including Rockland, have acquired high-speed vote-counting machines to assist with the process. But the paper vote count remains unprecedented and will still be time consuming.
That could mean delays in declaring a final winner in a pair of key congressional races in the Hudson Valley: An eight-way Democratic primary to replace retiring Rep. Nita Lowey in the 17th district, and a heated battle between longtime Rep. Eliot Engel and educator Jamaal Bowman in the 16th district.
Kristen Zebrowski Stavisky, the Rockland County Democratic elections commissioner, is telling candidates to expect results "on or about July 7."
"It's been a real experience," she said. "We had to build up a vote-by-mail system in under two months. There have been a lot of growing pains. I think all the vendors in the state were overwhelmed."
More: Spending tops $7M in heated congressional primary to replace Nita Lowey
More: Race for Rep. Eliot Engel's seat: 7 things to know on Primary Day
Major races are too close to call
In a normal election year, most races are called on election night. Only the closest of close races are usually forced to rely on paper ballot counting.
But nothing is normal in 2020.
Several major races across the state saw no clear results Tuesday night, largely because of the huge amount of paper ballots that remain to be counted.
It means candidates will be left in the lurch until counting is completed, a process that could take a week or two weeks or even more.
Results from in-person voting showed Bowman with a 7,000-vote lead over Engel as of midnight, with about 300 precincts in Westchester County left to be counted and long lines at polling places persisting well after polls closed at 9 p.m.
More: Mondaire Jones separates from the pack in crowded race to replace Nita Lowey
More: Election 2020: Jamaal Bowman moves closer to upsetting longtime Rep. Eliot Engel
That race, which has garnered national headlines, saw a major influx of absentees: Westchester and Bronx voters requested more than 180,000 absentee ballots, though not all were within the district.
In the 17th district, attorney Mondaire Jones built up a 4,000-vote lead in the eight-way primary as of midnight over his next closest rival, Adam Schleifer. But while his lead was significant, tens of thousands of ballots remain to be counted.
Absentees will also decide the 12-way Democratic primary in the 15th congressional district, where City Councilman Ritchie Torres led with 6,841 votes to Assemblyman Michael Blake's 4,177 votes.
That district is also in the Bronx, where there were at least 90,000 absentee ballots requested — though, again, not all within the district.
In the 27th congressional district in western New York, voters cast ballots in both a special election to immediately replace convicted Rep. Chris Collins and a Republican primary to pick the GOP candidate in November.
Erie County Comptroller Stefan Mychajliw conceded the GOP primary race late Tuesday to state Sen. Chris Jacobs, who also had a lead in the special election against Democrat Nate McMurray in a district that stretches into the Rochester suburbs.
By 11:30 p.m., Jacobs declared victory in both races, though McMurray had yet to concede with tens of thousands of absentees yet to be counted.
In a key Republican congressional primary in central New York, Claudia Tenney declared victory over George Phillips in her campaign toward a rematch against Democratic Rep. Anthony Brindisi in November in the 22nd congressional district.
More: New York 2020 primary elections: Here's what's on the ballot Tuesday, June 23
More: Primary results: Polls close after long lines and lengthy waits for voters
Biden cruised to victory
At least there was one race that won't be left to mystery.
Joe Biden, the former vice president, cruised to a win in New York's Democratic presidential primary. The Associated Press called Biden's victory shortly after polls closed at 9 p.m.
That shouldn't be cause for surprise: Biden has already wrapped up the Democratic nomination.
But 10 other candidates -- including Bernie Sanders, Amy Klobuchar, Elizabeth Warren and Andrew Yang -- kept their name on the ballot in hopes of picking up extra delegates for the Democratic National Convention, surviving an attempt by New York election commissioners to cancel the primary altogether. (The courts ruled canceling the primary would have been unconstitutional.)
More: Joe Biden easily wins New York Democratic presidential primary
More: Appeals court orders New York to reinstate June 23 presidential primary
How will New York's Democratic delegates split? It's too soon to say
While Biden cruised to a win and will pick up the largest share of New York's 274 pledged Democratic delegates, it's far too soon to say how the delegate split will play out.
New York awards its pledged delegates on a proportional basis, meaning they are split among the candidates based on their vote totals statewide and in each congressional district.
Anywhere from six to eight delegates are awarded in each congressional district, totaling 184. The remaining 90 are awarded based on the statewide vote.
A candidate, however, must collect at least 15% of the vote in a district or statewide to qualify for any delegates at all.
With about half of Election Day precincts reporting at 10 p.m. Sanders hovered around the 20% mark statewide, enough to pick up some delegates assuming absentee votes break in a similar fashion.
How many delegates? We'll know when paper ballots are counted beginning July 1.
New York's Republican presidential primary, meanwhile, was canceled after President Donald Trump was the only candidate to qualify for the ballot.
More: New York considers quarantine for Florida travelers, Gov. Andrew Cuomo says
More: Andrew Yang is the last New York Democrat standing. His roots are in the Hudson Valley.
Jon Campbell is a New York state government reporter for the USA TODAY Network. He can be reached at JCAMPBELL1@Gannett.com or on Twitter at @JonCampbellGAN.
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