How the AP is able to declare winners in states where polls just closed

Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Associated Press has declared winners in some states where polls had just closed, and in some cases before any votes had been released. How is that possible? While hotly contested races that take hours or days to count may attract the most attention, the AP for decades has called landslide or uncontested races at poll closing time. That’s what happened on election night. AP declared winners in West Virginia, Indiana, Kentucky and Vermont right as polls closed. The AP considers multiple factors and analyzes available data before determining whether a winner can be declared when polls close in a given state. But the AP will never declare the outcome in a competitive contest before enough votes are counted to make the winner clear.