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EXPLAINER: US vote is 51 elections, one in each state and DC
A major misconception about the vote for U.S. president is that it is a national election. It's not. Instead, it consists of 51 elections - one in each state and in the District of Columbia. And that'...
Nov 03, 2020

EXPLAINER: Calling a race is tricky: How AP does it
WASHINGTON - In the 2020 U.S. general election, The Associated Press will declare winners in more than 7,000 races - starting with the White House and reaching down the ballot to every seat in every s...
Nov 03, 2020

EXPLAINER: Election unprecedented some ways, in others not
The election of 2020 has been called many things: extraordinary, bizarre, unprecedented. It's all true, in some ways, though the election is still being held on the first Tuesday after the first Monda...
Nov 03, 2020

EXPLAINER: From the 2020 election, some new political terms
WASHINGTON - "So 2020" is a new phrase that made its way into America's political lexicon this year. It has come to describe all things unexpected, unsettling and unprecedented. This includes the vitr...
Nov 03, 2020

EXPLAINER: Senate majority outcome may take weeks or more
WASHINGTON - Thirty-five U.S. Senate seats are on the ballot Tuesday, which will determine control of the legislative chamber for the next two years. But due to election law quirks in the states of Ge...
Nov 03, 2020

It's here: What to watch on Election Day in America
Election Day is finally here. Or at least what we still call Election Day, since nearly 100 million Americans had already cast ballots by Tuesday. That's the result of an election system that has been...
Nov 02, 2020

Supreme Court to hear case about juvenile life sentences
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court is to hear arguments in a case that could put the brakes on what has been a gradual move toward more leniency for children who are convicted of murder. The court has con...
Nov 02, 2020

Election Day shadowed by threats of legal challenges
WASHINGTON - Even before Election Day, the 2020 race was the most litigated in memory. President Donald Trump is promising more to come. The candidates and parties have enlisted prominent lawyers with...
Nov 02, 2020

EXPLAINER: A long night, or more, before president is known
WASHINGTON - There's a good chance Americans won't know the winner of Tuesday's presidential election when they go to bed that night. The main reason? Many states have made it easier to request a mail...
Nov 02, 2020

Huge voter turnout expected despite virus, political rancour
The scourge of a global pandemic produced an election season like no other in the U.S., persuading record numbers of Americans to cast their ballots early, forcing states to make changes to long-estab...
Nov 02, 2020