9:55 p.m. - What does it mean when states are called?

In elections, a “called state” refers to a state where media organizations have declared a winner based on voting data. This designation helps shape the narrative on election night, signaling key moments in the race.

The race is close, and states are flipping, but 10 states have been called already. The called states include Indiana, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Florida. All of these states have been called by the Associated Press.

According to Lubbock Avalanche Journal, the Associated Press was created in 1846 as a newspaper cooperative. The first time the Associated Press called states in an election was when Zachary Taylor won the presidential election as part of the Whig Party.

To gather results from different jurisdictions, the American nation depended on the telegraph, which took a long time and a lot of money. By the early 1960s, the Associated Press and three other broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC) were all conducting their own independent vote counts.

The studios agreed to pool their resources in the 1964 election to compile a vote count for the important races, and this arrangement worked and lasted more than 50 years.

After the 2016 election ended, the Associated Press left the other networks to continue counting independent votes on its own. The organization launched its AP VoteCast survey, which served as an alternative to other exit polls.

All of the networks, including CNN, get their exit poll results from Edison Research.

However, every state runs its elections differently. Officials from each state tabulate votes according to their state laws before the secretaries of state can verify the results, which could take days or months. Due to the time gap between Election Day and when the official results come out, the Associated Press steps in to declare the winners of the race using their method, calling the states.

They do this by analyzing each state's poll data. They look at how many votes haven’t been counted yet, how many ballots have been cast, what types of votes have been submitted, whether early voting, absentee or in person, and historical voting data.

The Associated Press has been a key player in election reporting since 1846. Over the years, it has adapted to new technologies and methods, from the telegraph to data-drive analysis. As states vary in their election process, the AP’s timely race calls, based on a combination of vote data and historical trends, provide crucial clarity in the aftermath of election day.

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