AP Explains Process for Calling Election Races Across Country

The news organization analyzes vote tallies and ballot types to determine winners before official certification.

Economy & Markets Editor

Tuesday, March 3, 2026, 3:00 PM ET · 3 min read

The Associated Press has answered the question of who won in U.S. elections for nearly 180 years.

Declaring a winner involves analysis of vote tallies and election data to ensure no trailing candidate can catch up.

What the Right Is Saying

Republican voting trends since 2020 show a higher likelihood of casting ballots in person on Election Day.

AP analysts monitor in-person vote counts to assess if early leads grow or narrow based on counting order.

Democratic voting trends since 2020 show a higher likelihood of casting ballots by mail.

AP analysts track uncounted mail ballots to determine if early leads shrink as these votes are tabulated.

In a general election, the AP will make as many as 21,000 vote updates per hour.

Official certification of results typically takes weeks after Election Day.

AP calls are declarations based on data analysis rather than predictions or speculation.

The process ensures critical information is available during the interim period before official certification.