Stay informed with FP’s news and analysis as the United States votes.
The United States votes today—but we may not know the outcome for days to come. A critical part of this process will be the “calling” of results by different media outlets, chief among them being The Associated Press. It’s a system that doesn’t exist in most of the democratic world, where electoral authorities declare results once votes are fully counted.
There’s no legal role for the media to call U.S. elections. Like so many aspects of American political life, it’s an improvised measure that acts as a partial solution to a lasting problem—in this case, the size and disunity of the country. It was only in 1845, for instance, that the country passed a law to establish a single uniform election day; before that, states picked any date between November and December.
The AP began calling presidential elections in 1848, around the widespread adoption of the telegraph, and added other elections over time. The organization forecasts the vote of the Electoral College, which officially selects the U.S. president.
The AP’s call is a partial fix to the slowness of the U.S. count. In more average-sized countries, such as the United Kingdom or France, authorities return results within a few hours of polls closing. In India, with roughly four times as many voters as the United States, six weeks of voting produces results that are counted and finalized in a single day.
But in the United States, offices from the president to local school boards can be on the same ballot. Adding all that up takes a long time—not to mention the fact that every state has a different set of counting standards.
The gradual accumulation of results, rather than a single announcement, can create uncertainty and vulnerabilities. Look no further than the “Brooks Brothers riot” of 2000 or former President Donald Trump’s call to “stop the count” in 2020.
This post is part of FP’s live coverage with global updates and analysis throughout the U.S. election. Follow along here.