Associated Press

==Election polls==

The AP is the only organization that collects and verifies election results in every city and county across the United States, including races for the U.S. president, the Senate and House of Representatives, governor as well as other statewide offices.<ref name=understanding>{{cite web |title=Understanding the Election |url=https://www.ap.org/media-center/understanding-the-election |website=Associated Press |access-date=November 15, 2020 |archive-date=February 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210223204033/https://www.ap.org/media-center/understanding-the-election |url-status=live }}</ref> Major news outlets rely on the polling data and results provided by the Associated Press before declaring a winner in major political races, particularly the presidential election.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sadler |first1=Megan |title=How the Associated Press calls election races and ensures vote count accuracy |url=https://www.wvlt.tv/2020/11/10/how-the-associated-press-calls-election-races-and-ensures-vote-count-accuracy/ |access-date=November 15, 2020 |work=[[WVLT-TV]] |agency=Associated Press |date=November 10, 2020 |archive-date=November 10, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201110181846/https://www.wvlt.tv/2020/11/10/how-the-associated-press-calls-election-races-and-ensures-vote-count-accuracy/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In declaring the winners, the AP has historically relied on a robust network of local reporters with first-hand knowledge of assigned territories who also have long-standing relationships with county clerks as well as other local officials. Moreover, the AP monitors and gathers data from county websites and electronic feeds provided by states. The research team further verifies the results by considering demographics, number of absentee ballots, and other political issues that may have an effect on the final results.<ref name=understanding/> In 2018, the AP introduced a new system called AP VoteCast, which was developed together with [[NORC at the University of Chicago]] in order to further improve the reliability of its data and overcome biases of its legacy [[exit poll]].<ref>{{cite web |title=AP VoteCast |url=https://www.ap.org/en-us/topics/politics/elections/ap-votecast/about |website=Associated Press |access-date=November 15, 2020 |archive-date=February 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210223210751/https://www.ap.org/en-us/topics/politics/elections/ap-votecast/about |url-status=live }}</ref>

Recognized for its integrity and accuracy, the organization has collected and published presidential election data since 1848.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Storey |first1=Kate |title=How the Associated Press Plans to Determine the Winner of This Year's Election |url=https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a34496862/how-associated-press-counts-us-presidential-election-votes-results/ |access-date=November 15, 2020 |work=[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]] |date=October 29, 2020 |archive-date=November 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130143928/https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a34496862/how-associated-press-counts-us-presidential-election-votes-results/ |url-status=live }}</ref> During the 2016 election, the AP was 100% accurate in calling the president and congressional races in every state.<ref name=understanding/>