Spectrum News is committed to providing our audience with accurate, factual information, along with the context and analysis that allows them to understand election results and develop informed opinions.

And as a network of local news organizations supported by a national team, we are committed to not just covering the national contests but also the state and local races that are critical to our democracy.   

Spectrum News is an Associated Press affiliate member and subscribes to AP data for municipal, state and national election results. The AP has a careful, established process for counting votes, verifying the data and declaring projected winners on election night and in the days and weeks afterwards, according to its documentation. It has been doing this work for more than 170 years. Projected winners are declared based on actual election data, collected by a network of 4,000 freelance vote count reporters who work with local election commissions nationwide. The AP does not speculate but waits until it can say definitively which candidates are projected to have won, based on vote count, polling research, and other data, according to its documentation.

In statewide races for president, US Senate and governor, the AP provides estimated expected vote percentage, which is the portion of the vote that has been counted out of what the AP estimates will be the total number of certified votes, including votes cast on election day and in advance through early or mail-in voting.

Read more about how the Associated Press counts the vote and calculates expected vote.

Depending on the election, our local political journalists also will gather data directly from local election officials in races not covered by the AP. Spectrum News will project the winners for local races, in consultation with their editorial leadership, using exit polling data from the AP or directly from election commissions. 

Our multi-platform coverage will be led by our local Spectrum News teams.