The Associated Press and the US election

There is no national election commission in the United States that can tell us who won on Election Day, so that’s how the Associated Press (AP) steps in and help us decipher the results. An American non-profit news agency, the AP was founded in 1846. Its members are US newspapers and broadcasters.

Interestingly, the AP has counted the vote in US elections since 1848, including national, state and local races, along with key ballot measures. Practically, the AP collects and verifies returns in every county, parish, city and town across the US, and declares the winners in over 7,000 races. 

The AP uses a 50-state network of some 4,000 local “stringers”, that are press freelancers, and that have built trusted relationships with county clerks and other local officials, over years of election night reporting. 

Those arrive at county election offices before the poles close. On voting night, more than 800 entry clerks (working remotely this year because of the pandemic), answer those calls, write down the numbers and enter them into AP’s election database. 

As that process goes on, automated checks look for discrepancies or inconsistencies with a county’s previous voting history or other data. Then, state-based analysts and editors at AP’s headquarters use that information to “call races,” or declare the winners, without making projections or speculating in any way. 

For instance, the AP didn’t call the 2000 Bush-Gore race, standing by its judgment that the margin in Florida was too close to call. 

Pretty amazing to see a news agency playing such a leading role in informing Americans about what’s going on at their elections!