WASHINGTON (AP) — The Associated Press has been tallying results in national, state and local elections since 1848. In broad terms, the process is the same today as it was then. Vote count reporters collect election results at a local level as soon as polls close, then submit those results for the AP to collate, verify and report. This year, the AP will count the votes in about 5,000 contested races, from the presidency and Congress to state legislatures and ballot measures. The AP’s vote count fills a gap in bringing together information that otherwise might not be available online for days or weeks after an election or is scattered across hundreds of local websites.
