“Joe Biden wins Pennsylvania. » These four words, sent by the Associated Press (AP) at 11:25 (17:25 Paris time) on November 7, 2020, crossed oceans and language barriers in a few short seconds. At 17:33, the world write in turn: “The Democrat wins in Pennsylvania and obtains 20 additional electors, thus securing the majority of the 270 electoral college votes. » Like many media outlets, the newspaper cites AP. Millions of phones vibrate almost simultaneously, one part of the United States shouts its euphoria in the streets, another its dismay, diplomatic reactions rain down.
In the United States, the election results announced by the press are authentic. No national electoral commission announces the name of the winner at 8 pm To follow the vote count, sometimes for days, Americans turn to the media, led by the Associated Press agency, the undisputed authority on the matter since the elections of 1848.
Their responsibility has not changed: monitor and centralize the local vote count, and only declare a winner when it is mathematically established. Even if that means not announcing anything if the margin is too close in a state, as was the case during the extraordinary 2000 post-election duel between George W. Bush and Al Gore, which the AP refused to decide before a Supreme Court decision. Court. The method is a far cry from that of 1860, when Pony Express passengers collected figures from California to transmit by telegraph.
There is no room for speculation
Behind the brief alerts that AP gives throughout theElection dayand often beyond, today there is an avalanche of all specialized journalists, statisticians, race callersthese experts responsible for declaring the winner in each state, experienced pollsters and editors. They all form the decision team (“decision team”). For them, “Elections are not an event that happens every four years in November, but a full-time job”underlines David Scott, one of the AP editors in chief responsible for the cell in charge of validating the results.
Tirelessly, they track the status of ballot boxes, each state’s voting history, its changing election rules, mail-in ballots. HAS A few weeks before the elections, it is time for general rehearsals. With a large or very close advantage, AP teams prepare all scenarios. Fake voting data is generated to simulate D-Day conditions, with “TEST” prominently displayed. They record the slowness, the problems encountered and improve what can be improved. The machine must be perfectly oiled, summarizes David Scott, “like a sports team preparing for a big game”.
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