AP Election-Night Results Process Is Used Across Multiple Races
An explanation of how the Associated Press tracks election results on Election Night, a process utilized by PBS News for various races including congressional, gubernatorial, mayoral, and city council elections.
Seattle Tacoma, WA, October 28, 2026 —
An explanation of the Associated Press’s Election Night results-tracking process describes a system used by PBS News to cover a range of contests, from congressional and gubernatorial races to mayoral and city council elections.
The process is identified as a way of tracking election results on Election Night. The available summary, however, does not detail how results are collected, checked or reported, or explain the specific roles played by the AP and PBS News. It also does not identify particular elections or jurisdictions where the process has been used.
The races listed indicate that the process applies to contests at multiple levels of government. Congressional and gubernatorial elections are included alongside municipal contests for mayor and city council. The summary does not provide further information about how coverage may differ among those race types, or whether the same procedures are used in every contest.
No dates, election results, vote totals, named officials or other participants are provided. The summary also does not state how quickly results are updated, what sources are consulted, or what methods are used to determine when a race can be called. Those details cannot be established from the information available.
Accordingly, the account establishes the broad relationship: the AP tracks results on Election Night, and PBS News uses that process for coverage of several kinds of elections. A fuller description of the system would require additional information about its procedures and how the results are handled.
Story summarized from the original created by Cascade PBS Staff on www.cascadepbs.org, see more information here.
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