On Election Day, voters are deciding 435 House races, 35 Senate races and 36 governor's races, along with ballot measures and thousands of state legislative seats. NPR explained how it will report winners: it relies on the Associated Press, which has called races since 1848.
Who decides. AP race callers work with analysts who focus on statewide and House races. Members of AP's Decision Team sign off on every call for Senate and governor and on important House races.
What they look at. AP looks at much more than the total vote. Callers study results county by county and, where available, by type of ballot, such as Election Day, early in-person or mail. They also track how many ballots are still left to count and where those ballots are coming from.
Why some races are called early. A race can be called before every vote is counted if the math shows a trailing candidate cannot catch up with the ballots that remain. AP stresses that these calls are not predictions. If no clear winner can be determined, AP waits. It famously did not call Florida in the 2000 presidential race because the margin was too close.
What doesn't count. NPR and AP will not call a race because a candidate declares victory or concedes. AP calls a race only when it is confident the trailing candidates no longer have a path to win.
After AP calls a race, NPR alerts listeners and readers, shares the information with its member stations and updates its results pages. Counting will continue after election night, and some races may take days to call.
Raw 100.5 follows the same approach on our national news page and does not call races on its own.
Sources: NPR, Associated Press