DALLAS — WFAA is dedicating a team of journalists to track election results in North Texas and across the state when the polls close Tuesday night.
The voting results we share on air and online will come from data at county election offices, the Texas Secretary of State's Office and the Associated Press.
On election night, after the polls close at 7 p.m., election offices in every Texas county will provide updated election results for local races, such as school bond campaigns and the charter amendment propositions in Dallas. These are unofficial results. As counties release that data for local races on Tuesday night, WFAA will share them with our audience.
Each county may release unofficial election day vote totals at different times throughout the night. Dallas County officials say they will begin posting election day results at 9 p.m. and will update them every hour until all results are counted.
Collin County officials say that after the early vote totals are reported at 7 p.m., unofficial election results will be updated beginning at 8:30 p.m. and then at half-hour intervals until tabulation is completed.
Tarrant County has a new vote-tabulation process in which official results will be transmitted in person, not online, a move that county officials say will make the election more transparent and secure. We explain more about how the new process works here.
Tarrant County officials on their website say they plan to have early voting numbers released no later than 7:15pm and additional results no later than 9 p.m.
The Texas Secretary of State’s Office is the official vote clearinghouse for the larger state legislature races, Congress and the presidential race in Texas.
Counties that use electronic voting system equipment need to establish a central counting station, according to state election code. The central counting station is the place on election night where ballots are counted and vote totals are accumulated and the unofficial elections results are generated.
WFAA relies on this official information as the main source for final election results in many of the biggest races. The Texas SOS updates its numbers as counties report additional votes to the state. When the SOS releases those updates, WFAA will share the newest numbers.
At 7 p.m. on Tuesday, many Texas counties along with the Secretary of State’s Office will release their early voting results.
More than 9 million Texans voted early over the last two weeks. When the early voting data is released from those official sources, WFAA will capture that and share it with our audience. The early voting data, which will make up potentially two-thirds of the total vote according to multiple Republican and Democratic sources, will be the first results that WFAA shares.
In addition to data released by counties and the state, WFAA also relies on the Associated Press to bring you the latest results.
The AP has compiled vote results and declared winners in elections in Texas and across the country for more than 170 years.
How does the AP do it? The news wire service employs a network of more than 4,000 local reporters who collect vote results from county election offices when polls close. The AP then conducts a series of checks and verifications to ensure the results are accurate. The AP will report those vote totals to WFAA and other news outlets – sometimes before the county or state will post the results on its websites. To ensure accuracy, WFAA compares the AP’s tally to the official tally to make sure we share correct information.
Who declares winners on Election Night? WFAA does not officially declare winners of any race. WFAA relies on the Associated Press and ABC News to officially “call” races and declare winners.
Here’s how the AP determines winners on Election Night:
The AP has a "Decision Team" that carefully researches election rules in each county and congressional district, taking a close look at the state’s history of voting by mail and early voting turnout.
The AP "race callers" collaborate with political analysts who focus on statewide and federal races, such as those for governor, U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives. The editors on the AP’s "Decision Team" must sign off on "race calls" for president, U.S. Senate and governor, as well as races of significance for the U.S. House of Representatives.
“They study the incoming vote county by county. In states where the information is available, they look at the vote by type of ballot: cast in person at polling places, or in advance by mail or in person,” the AP explains on its website. “They are also in constant contact with AP’s vote count team, in search of the latest information about what’s been counted so far and how many ballots may still be left to count.”
Once the AP analysis of that data determines the leader cannot be overtaken by trailing candidates, the AP publicly declares a winner.
The AP results are updated in real time throughout the evening and in the days following Election Day to WFAA and other news outlets, until every race is called and state officials certify their results as final.
All states must certify their official results by Dec. 11, according to the National Archives.
