| The
AP on Election Night
The Associated Press assigns county reporters on election night to nearly
every county, about 4,600
in all, to report the vote on more than 6,000 races nationwide. These county reporters, more commonly referred to in the industry
as "stringers," obtain the official vote counts
from local election officials and relay them to AP's election
centers.
Most county reporters make multiple calls to one of four regional
election tabulation centers, two of them in Spokane, Washington,
a third at AP headquarters in Manhattan and a fourth in Brooklyn.
There they are entered into AP’s computer election system,
tabulated and distributed by satellite or the Internet to
members and other customers.
The earliest returns show up on news wires and special election
services shortly after 6 p.m. EST and the pace quickens soon to peak between
10 p.m. and midnight EST. The count continues well into the
early morning hours, and through the day Wednesday.
In addition to transmitting returns in standard newspaper
formats, AP delivers returns online to newspapers, broadcasters
and others. Regularly updated reports show up on customers’
Web sites and are available though the AP Vote Count system
for newsroom use.
The obvious focus is on the race for president as well as
contested elections for both houses of Congress. In addition
to individual race summaries, AP distributes frequently updated
“trend” tables showing the party breakdown for
the House and Senate.
AP serves the television networks with results on top-of-the-ticket
races for president, Congress, governor and some ballot issues
of national interest. Members and customers in every state
and the District of Columbia get full coverage of all statewide
and legislative races, as well as newsworthy district and
local elections and ballot issues.
AP uses a variety of sources to obtain results, including
county reporters at locations where votes are counted, plus
electronic feeds from some secretaries of state and accessible
state and county Web sites.
Before results are entered into AP election computers, they
are run through a system of software checks that look for
reports that exceed parameters based on voter registration
and voting history. In addition, a team of experienced analysts
examine returns after they are entered for accuracy and thoroughness.
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