It's election season again. This is why and how AP calls races across the country

[Omaha Steve]

https://apnews.com/article/ap-election-race-calls-vote-count-results-b9664d790ed5ef20705101e83667e0b2

By MAYA SWEEDLER and ROBERT YOON
Updated 6:07 AM CST, March 3, 2026

WASHINGTON (AP) — So, who won?

That’s a question The Associated Press has answered many thousands of times in U.S. elections held since shortly after the news organization was founded nearly 180 years ago.

Declaring a winner involves a careful and thorough analysis of the latest available vote tallies and a variety of other election data. The ultimate goal is to determine whether there is any circumstance in which the trailing candidate can catch up to the candidate who is leading the race. If not, then the leading candidate has won.

Here’s a look at the AP’s role and its process for determining the outcome of elections, also known as calling a race:

FULL story at link above.