SUMMARY

Election season is well underway. Candidates are campaigning, absentee ballots are being mailed out, and early votes are being cast. It’s all leading to Nov. 5, and one big question: Who won? But to find out, votes actually have to be counted. Lisa Desjardins takes a closer look at how the Associated Press keeps track of thousands of competitive races.

View the transcript of the story.

News alternative: Check out recent segments from the NewsHour, and choose the story you’re most interested in watching. You can make a Google doc copy of discussion questions that work for any of the stories here.

WARM-UP QUESTIONS

1. What is the Associated Press (AP)?
2. How many races will the AP be tracking on election night this November?
3. Who is David Scott, and why does he say that speed is only a secondary consideration in calling races?
4. When will the AP call a race? What do they want to see before they are certain of results?
5. Why does the AP use computer models to help determine who is certain to win elections before the final vote tallies are in?

FOCUS QUESTIONS

Why do you think news outlets devote so many resources to calling races as quickly (and accurately) as possible? What do you think would be the impact of news outlets resisting calling races until results were officially announced by each state?

Media literacy: Do you think the ways media outlets cover elections influences the way voters make decisions? If so, how?

Alternative: See, Think, Wonder: What did you notice? What did the story make you think? What would you want to learn more about?

FOR MORE

What students can do: Have you ever wondered why state results matter in a national election such as presidential elections? Why isn't the result simply determined by who gets the most votes across the country?

To learn more about why the electoral college exists and how winners are determined, listen to this podcast by Student Reporting Labs and the team of student reporters. Then discuss — do you think the electoral college system is a good one? If you could design the system, what would you change?

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