Declaring the winners: How does AP call races?
Americans are heading to polls across the U.S. on Election Day, with candidates urging everyone to exercise their right to vote.
While many people - including former president Donald Trump - are hoping to see results soon after polls close Tuesday night, experts say it's not likely due to a few battleground states.
Polls will close at 11 p.m. Eastern time in the Western part of the country, including in the swing states of Arizona and Nevada.
Then, votes will need to be tallied.
Since it's reportedly expected to be a tight race between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, the battleground states are critical to both candidates.
- which has been compiling vote results and declaring winners from election offices around the nation for more than 170 years - said it calls races when there is "no possibility that the trailing candidate can make up the gap."
If one candidate is lagging by a considerable margin, a winner is often called soon after polls close. But if the race is neck-and-neck, more time is needed.
The AP said it will declare a race "too close to call" if it is so close there's no clear winner even after all ballots except for provisional and late-arriving absentee ballots have been counted.
In competitive races, AP analysts may need to wait until additional votes are tallied or to confirm specific information about how many ballots are left to count.
The AP may delay calling a winner if the vote results go against the expected outcome of the contest as indicated by the available election data. In other words, if the vote results show a large lead for one candidate but some combination of the past vote history, demographic data or AP VoteCast data point to a different outcome, the AP would carefully review the vote results before making any determination.
Both Harris and Trump, along with their running mates, took to social media to encourage the public to vote.
In a series of posts, Harris said "we vote for a brighter future" and shared a links for voters to find their polling locations.
Tim Walz quoted Harris in his own post, as he wrote, "when we vote, we win." He also noted that "today is our chance to pick a new generation of leadership."
Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, also urged voters to head to the polls.
"It is now officially ELECTION DAY! This will be the most important day in American History. Voter enthusiasm is THROUGH THE ROOF because people want to Make America Great Again. That means lines are going to be long! I need you to deliver your vote no matter how long it takes. STAY IN LINE!" Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social.
Vance shared similar sentiments.
"We're hearing a lot about long lines and high enthusiasm. Get in line, stay in line, and VOTE," he wrote. "Today is the day we take back our country."
