Our role in US elections
AP's essential role in elections
AP, the most trusted source of information on election night with a history of accuracy dating to 1848, offers that expertise to its member news organizations, customers and the public across all platforms when it counts the vote, declares the winners and covers the results in U.S. elections.
Follow our complete election coverage on apnews.com.
Counting votes
AP has been counting the vote for over 170 years and has experience tabulating elections that aren’t decided on Election Day.
Calling races
AP declares winners in thousands of races, starting with the White House and reaching down the ballot to every seat in every state legislature. In 2020, we were 99.9% accurate in calling U.S. races, and 100% accurate in calling the presidential and congressional races for each state.
Explaining the electorate
AP VoteCast, the wide-ranging survey of the American electorate, uses the ideal methodology to conduct accurate research about the electorate during a pandemic.
Advancing the power of facts
As it has for more than 170 years, The Associated Press counts the vote and reports the results quickly, accurately and without fear or favor.
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Research and reporting
AP VoteCast
We meet voters where they are by conducting AP VoteCast by mail, phone and online, using an approach designed for how America votes today and how it will increasingly vote in the future: early, absentee and by mail.
Election research
AP has for years employed a full-time elections research team that works year-round to ensure our vote count team, our decision desk and newsroom – and therefore our member news organizations and customers – know as much as possible about what to expect once Election Day arrives.
Election coverage
From The Definitive Source
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