11/03/06

AP to report the vote count on 2006 Election Night

NEW YORK -- The Associated Press will cover more than 6,000 races in the 2006 Midterm Elections on Tuesday, Nov. 7, with some 5,000 people deployed in counties across the United States to handle AP's vote count and political reporting. As in 2004, AP will be once again be the only news organization collecting the vote for the media and delivering it to newspapers and broadcasters.

The news cooperative will reprise the historical role it has had in every U.S. election since Nov. 7, 1848, the first time in which all states voted on the same day. From the moment the polls close, the AP will report on movements in the battle to control the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, as well as statehouses, legislatures and scores of other state and district offices. The results will be delivered in a variety of formats, by satellite and online.

"We've kept up with all changes in the way counties and states tally votes since 2004 and we're prepared for anything," said Tom Jory, AP's Director of Election Tabulations. "Based on the stellar track record we've established in the year-round election process, we expect the enhanced procedures on our end to result in a smooth-running night for all the media outlets relying on us for yet-another accurate vote count to relay to their readers, listeners and viewers," he said.

"Control of the House and the Senate is up for grabs, and voters are motivated by the war in Iraq to turn out next week," said AP Washington Chief of Bureau Sandy Johnson. "We'll watch for problems with voting machines on election day itself and roll up our sleeves that night to report and analyze the votes as they are counted."

On election night and the days following, you'll be able to find AP's election coverage in member newspapers and their Web sites, in television and radio broadcasts, and on Internet sites which subscribe to AP for content. To learn more about how AP covers the vote count, calls the winners and provides comprehensive reporting and analysis of the 2006 Midterm Elections, go to the explanatory Web page on the corporate Internet site at http://www.ap.org/elections2006

AP, with roots dating back to 1846, is the world's oldest and largest newsgathering organization, providing content to more than 15,000 news outlets with a daily reach of 1 billion people around the world. Its multimedia services are distributed by satellite and the Internet to more than 120 nations.

Contact: Jack Stokes, AP Corporate Communications, 212.621.1720.