Explaining the election

Washington Bureau Chief Anna Johnson explains why this effort to be more transparent is crucial to building trust amid widespread election misinformation: 

Why is AP ramping up its explanatory journalism this election?  

Democracy and elections in the United States are complicated, and there are a lot of questions about the voting process and how elections work in general. And because elections are complex and vary from state to state, there also is a lot of misinformation about them. One of our goals is to explain as much as we can about the election process in an engaging way across formats and platforms so hopefully people have a better understanding of everything from how people vote, to how ballots are counted, to how the Electoral College works and more.  

The AP also plans to ramp up explanatory stories around our own race calls this election in an effort to be transparent and show our work by explaining how we were able to make key race calls. Audiences increasingly want to understand the facts and data behind AP race calls, and we plan to turn the conversations we have long had in the newsroom into journalism and provide that transparency.  

What are some standout examples of explainer stories so far? What’s on tap in the weeks to come?  

We launched a series of explanatory stories ahead of Nov. 5 that explore everything from who can vote in U.S. elections, to why states process ballots and release results differently, to how polls work and much more. The series also dives into the role of the AP and why and how we count the vote for thousands of elections up and down the ballot in the U.S. We also produced a Top 25 guide that explores the people, places, races and dates that are key to this election. And this week, we are rolling out state-by-state stories that dive into what our own Decision Team is looking at as it prepares to call races in each state.   

How will audiences benefit from this kind of coverage?  

Elections are inherently complex in the U.S. Our explanatory coverage is aimed at helping clear up confusion and dispelling false information while also being approachable and easy to understand.   

Anything to add?  

We are ready to jump on any additional issues that come up before, during and after the election that could benefit from an explanatory approach. Our politics, democracy and election reporters and other journalists around the country have deep expertise on nearly every aspect of the U.S. elections, and we hope we add context and clarity to complicated issues.