A handful of states and districts have multiple polling place closing times because they are located in more than one time zone. In these cases, the AP will never declare a winner before the closing time of final voting in that state or district. Florida, Texas and a few others begin releasing voting results for most of the state shortly after polls close in the earliest time zone. Votes already counted in areas in the above time zones will also be considered to determine whether a winner can be declared by the time the final polls close.

Other election data the AP takes into account includes an area’s voting history in recent elections, voter registration statistics and polls leading up to Election Day.

When the above data points confirm the expected outcome in a state where either major party has a history of dominating elections, the AP can call the race as soon as voting ends.

Learn more about how and why AP declares winners in the U.S. election in Explaining Election 2024, an Associated Press series aimed at helping make sense of American democracy. The AP receives support from several private foundations to improve its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP’s democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.