Skip to main content

Media announce elections results in US not electoral commission

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump

Media networks are the platforms that announce elections results and declare winners of elections in the U.S., rather than the election commission, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

The U.S. Federal Election Commission (FEC) disclosed this on Thursday to a correspondent of NAN participating in the U.S. 2016 General Elections Embed Programme.

Two Nigerian journalists from NAN and Channels Television are among the 24 participants at the programme drawn from 15 countries.

The programme is being administered by the International Centre for Journalists (ICFJ) and sponsored by the U.S. State Department’s Foreign Press Centres and U.S. Embassy Posts.

Christian Hilland, Deputy Press Officer of FEC told NAN that the commission did not tabulate or announce winners of elections.

“As I’ve already mentioned, the Federal Election Commission does not perform vote tabulation and it certainly does not announce winners of elections.

“While there isn’t an official central body for you to follow on election night, the major news stations will surely be tracking state-by-state vote results.

“You may also wish to contact the National Archives, which has voting and election resources,” Hilland said.

Patrick Butler, the Vice President, Programmes at the International Centre for Journalists (ICFJ), also reinforced Hilland’s position, saying that the counting of votes is done at the Counties and States levels.

“There is no national organisation doing votes counting or announcement of winners; it is done by the networks such as CNN, AP, among others.

“What does happen is that each `county has its own electoral board that counts the votes and there are party observers who are watching the counts.

“The Electoral College meets and decides the winner of the presidential election but there is no national election body that announces.

A Professor of Political Science at the Christopher Newport University, Quentin Kidd, said the networks announce the presidential election results by calling each state through exit polling.

He said: “Exit polling is a poll of people leaving a polling place, asking how they voted, and pollsters use the data to project how all voters or segments of voters’ side on a particular race or ballot measure.’’

“So the national networks will be projecting who wins each state through exit polling.

“There won’t start projecting states until about 7 p.m. because they made an informal agreement not to declare states votes until California votes,” he said.

According to him, however, the state elections board also officially announce the election results at the state level after sorting out absentee and mailing ballots.

“However, it usually takes sometimes a week, 10 days, and sometimes month to sort out absentee ballots and mailing ballots are sorted out and officially say who the winner is.

“But unless the election that close, it’s clear who wins; the margin does not usually affect the outcome of the election,” he said.

NAN reports that the U.S. presidential candidates are elected by a group of 538 members of the Electoral College and not by a popular vote.

NAN also reports that while the president-elect would already be known on Nov. 8 through exit polling, the Electoral College would officially meet in December to formally vote for the candidates.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Pope not involved in Colombian peace deal- Vatican

Pope Francis Pope Francis has turned down a request to play a role in the peace deal between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebel group. The Vatican in a statement issued on Wednesday in in Vatican City said that an invitation was sent to his Holiness in early August to appoint a representative to participate in the committee that selected the judges for the talks. The statement said that though Pope Francis supported the peace process, he, however, reiterated that he would not get involved in Colombian peace deal. It said that Pope was praying for the enlightenment of the hearts and minds of those who were called to promote the common good of the Colombian nation. A deal was announced last week, putting an end to five decades of internal conflict between government forces and the FARC rebels. The agreement, which needed to be ratified through a referendum in Oct. 2, would entail setting up a special court to grant amnesties or pu...

Houthis Claim Attack on Central Israel in Response to Gaza ‘Massacres’

The ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas has taken a concerning regional turn as the Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed responsibility for an attack on central Israel. The group announced this as part of their escalating response to what they describe as "massacres" in Gaza amid the Israeli military’s operations in the strip. Details of the Attack The Houthis, a Shiite militant group with ties to Iran, declared that they launched missile and drone strikes targeting Israel. While the exact impact of these attacks remains unclear, reports suggest that Israel’s defense systems intercepted several threats over its airspace. This marks a significant escalation as the Houthis widen their involvement in the conflict beyond their typical operations within Yemen and neighboring Saudi Arabia. The Houthis’ Justification In their statement, the Houthis framed the attack as retaliation for Israel’s military actions in Gaza, which they characterized as indiscriminate bombings resultin...

Fall of Assad is a Blow to Russia's Prestige

The potential fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a long-standing ally of Russia, would mark a turning point in Moscow’s global influence, particularly in the Middle East. Steve Rosenberg’s analysis underscores the profound implications for Russia, which has invested heavily—both militarily and politically—in ensuring Assad’s survival over the past decade. This article delves into why Assad’s downfall would strike at the core of Russian prestige and what it could mean for the broader geopolitical landscape. Russia's Strategic Commitment to Syria Since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Russia has been a staunch supporter of Assad's regime. In 2015, Moscow launched a military intervention that proved decisive in stabilizing Assad’s hold on power. This intervention solidified Russia's role as a key power broker in the Middle East and demonstrated its willingness to project military power far beyond its borders. Syria is not just an ally for Russia; it is a...