Results in some races in Tuesday's midterm elections might not be known for days or weeks, Axios reported.
Axios said a number of factors — including processing and counting ballots, and election rules in key swing states — could contribute to delays.
Republicans are seeking to win back control of Congress on Tuesday. Recent poll results have indicated the GOP is on target to capture a House majority, with the Senate's party breakdown dependent on races in several battleground states.
Axios reported that some candidates might cause delays by employing lawsuits that challenge the election process. Several people running already have declined to say if they will accept the results of the election in their states.
This is the first congressional election since 2020, when President Joe Biden's election victory was not called officially by major news outlets until days after voting closed.
A high percentage of mail-in votes contributed to former President Donald Trump and allies claiming that voter fraud in several battleground states determined the outcome.
"We don't want them to find any more ballots at 4 o'clock in the morning and add them to the list," Trump said in 2020, Axios reported.
With elections conducted by state and local officials, and jurisdictions having different rules for carrying out the process, several states were under the microscope heading into Tuesday.
In Georgia, where Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., is running against Trump-endorsed Herschel Walker in a hotly contested race, state law requires that candidates must secure at least 50% of the vote to win.
If no candidate in Georgia reaches that percentage, the top two advance to a Dec. 6 run-off.
In Arizona, lawmakers passed a bill that increases the automatic recount threshold from one-tenth of 1%, to one-half of 1%. Democrat Sen. Mark Kelly is being challenged by Trump-endorsed Republican Blake Masters.
Although Arizona elections officials can begin counting early ballots upon receipt, "It will take several days for counties to finish processing early and provisional ballots, so expect results to continue to be reported for several days," per the state's secretary of state office, Axios reported.
In Pennsylvania, election officials are not allowed to begin processing absentee and mail ballots until the morning of the election, per National Conference of State Legislatures.
Trump-endorsed Republican Mehmet Oz is running against Democrat Lt. Gov. John Fetterman for a Senate seat held by retiring Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa.
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