Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis‘s victory party Tuesday was noteworthy not just for a surprise guest but for the time she addressed her supporters: less than two hours after polls closed.

Willis boasted shortly before 9 p.m. Eastern time that she’d be drinking Grey Goose following her primary win, but the party may have gotten started early in part due to Georgia‘s controversial election integrity laws.

“The state and Fulton County have been working diligently together to improve processes in the county,” said David Becker, founder of the Center for Election Innovation and Research. “In fact, statewide, I am seeing this in both blue and red counties. I credit the partnership, particularly between the secretary of state’s office and the counties.”

Willis’s landslide win over Christian Wise Smith was called by the Associated Press at 7:32 p.m., and Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, who is overseeing the high-profile Donald Trump election interference case, had his race called before 8 p.m. Spotted in the crowd at Willis’s celebration was attorney Nathan Wade, her ex-lover who almost cost her her job as prosecutor of the Trump case.

The early race calls were a huge change from recent precedent in Fulton County, which had been known for late returns. In 2017, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote that Georgia voters often had to wait “until the wee hours of the morning” to get election results, with “Fulton County earning a reputation for getting its results in well after midnight.”

After the 2020 elections, in which some voters stood in line for hours and Georgia was one of several states that counted results for days with the outcome in doubt, the general assembly passed new laws that could have led to a state takeover of Fulton County’s elections.

While the laws proved so controversial that MLB moved its All-Star Game from Atlanta to Denver, a two-year state investigation ended with no action, and Fulton County began processing votes soon after polls closed Tuesday night.

Fulton County Elections Superintendent Nadine Williams said the county has streamlined check-in procedures, consolidated polling sites, and introduced additional police escorts and memory card uploaders to make its elections more transparent and efficient.

“We are dedicated to continually enhancing our processes despite the false claims and misinformation circulated by detractors,” she said. “Our goal remains to ensure that every election is conducted with the utmost integrity and accessibility.”

Primaries are not as big of a strain as a general election, with lower turnout and, in the case of Willis and McAfee, lopsided results, but the quick calls do portend good things for this fall, according to Kennesaw State University political science professor Kerwin Swint.

“The old joke with Fulton County is that they are so late getting their results in because they didn’t know how many votes they needed until election night,” he said. “But it has been an absolute mess in recent years.”

He sees brighter things in the future.

“I do expect things to be better and more coordinated for Georgia this time around,” Swint said. “That’s largely because there won’t be a flood of unplanned-for mail-in ballots, and there will be more days of early voting. So, hopefully, the election will be smoother with earlier reporting of results. That’s mostly due to legislative changes since 2020. Fulton County may benefit from that. It may not be due to actions taken on their own.”

Trump was a major critic of Fulton County and Georgia voting following his narrow loss in 2020, creating a saga that is still playing out in the state.

Even the county’s fast returns this week prompted some criticism.

“Fulton County apparently can count votes quickly when it wants to,” Townhall columnist Phil Holloway posted on X. “The Democrat primary is called for #FaniWillis a mere 30 minutes after polls closed.”

Georgia laws passed since 2020 are designed to speed up reporting, with elections superintendents required to report returns of verified absentee ballots by 5 p.m. the day after the election. Mail-in ballots must be received by the time polls close on election day, and absentee ballot processing can begin three weeks before an election, though actual votes are not counted until polls close.

It was other aspects of the laws that drew criticism, particularly a provision that gifts couldn’t be handed out to voters standing in line. President Joe Biden mentioned that controversy during an Atlanta speech on Sunday, prompting a response from Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

“It’s 2024,” he wrote. “I can’t believe we’re still dealing with lies about Georgia’s election from the left & right. Once again, Georgia doesn’t have lines. Biden owes our election officials an apology & focus on the real issues — this damn inflation that is hitting hard-working Georgians.”

Raffensperger’s office said it was proud of its performance this week.

“This primary was a success, and the results reported quickly, thanks to the millions of dollars of technological upgrades and infrastructure improvements put in place by Secretary Raffensperger as part of his commitment to providing the most accessible and secure election possible for the voters of Georgia,” spokesman Robert Sinners said.

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With more than five months before the general election, officials in Georgia and beyond are hoping for a repeat performance on Nov. 5.

“I do think that voters in Georgia should feel very confident about the processes and the likelihood that election results from Fulton County and statewide will be reported as quickly as possible,” Becker said.