It will take over an hour from closing to get preliminary VA election results [View all]

Having worked the polls, first the tapes from the machines have to be collected, then the machines are shut down, then the formal report has to be fiilled out and the tapes attached, and maybe the results are phoned in to the county at the same time or afterwards. At the minimum, it's over an hour before in-person totals are reported, sometimes nearly two hours. And there are provisional ballots that could sway a close race.