LOCALIZE IT: Fine-tuning your midterm coverage plans

Election 2022 Louisiana Explainer (© 2020 MAX BECHERER/Times-Picayune | The Advocate)

EDITORS/NEWS DIRECTORS:

With Election Day just a few weeks away, many newsrooms have their game plans set. They’ve followed key campaigns and covered contested primaries.

But now is a good time to stop and think through potential developments in the days leading up to Nov. 8, on Election Day itself and in the days after. It’s also a good moment for newsrooms to make sure their coverage checklists aren’t missing any important items.

Here, we share plans from our journalists, including AP's new democracy team, for Election Day coverage and beyond, and lessons newsrooms can take away from AP’s 175 years of experience covering elections:

COVERING LOCAL VOTING AND POLLING PLACES

Journalists reporting on local election offices or polling places should have a basic knowledge of how voting is done in their county. This includes being aware of recent changes to state election law, rules for poll watchers and any recent issues that have arisen locally that could affect voting on Election Day, such as a shortage of poll workers.

— What AP is doing: The AP has been reporting extensively on voting law changes and threats to undermine the election system. Harassment of election workers, efforts to recruit partisan poll watchers, conspiracy theories surrounding voting machines and insider threats could have significant effects this election cycle. Throughout October, the AP also is publishing a series of explainers about the voting and election process.

— Discussion to have in your newsroom: How can you prepare your reporters for various situations at polling places? If a reporter hears of people being turned away at the polls, do they know who to call and what to ask? Does your staff have someone who is knowledgeable about the type of voting machines and poll books your county uses? Is your staff aware of important state laws and local rules, including voter ID requirements, guidelines for drop boxes and restrictions on poll watchers? Is the newsroom prepared to mobilize coverage of confrontations or violence at the polls? This should include training and discussion before Election Day about staff safety.

HUMANIZING THE ELECTION

At least 20 states have passed restrictive voting laws since the 2020 presidential election, and many of those will be in effect for the November election. How will these laws affect voters, particularly marginalized ones and communities of color?

— What AP is doing: New laws in effect for the midterms could have a profound effect on voting, especially on communities that typically lean Democratic. Voter ID requirements, restrictions on mailed ballots and drop boxes, and shortened windows for early voting all could have consequences for turnout and whose ballots get counted. What is the impact on Native American reservations? This also is the first nationwide general election held under the new congressional and state legislative maps drawn after the 2020 census. Has partisan gerrymandering diminished the influence of certain voters, especially communities of color? Some neighborhoods also might have different polling places or even fewer polling places than in previous elections, potentially making it harder for certain people to vote.

— Discussion to have in your newsroom: How are new voting laws affecting the counties you cover? Are communities within your coverage area affected differently? Do some neighborhoods have proportionately fewer polling sites and drop boxes for mailed ballots than other communities? Do voter ID requirements affect communities in different ways? Do new laws or local rules make it harder for those with disabilities to vote? Are conservative groups challenging the voter rolls? If so, is this happening predominantly in communities of color and immigrant communities? Are groups recruiting and training poll watchers for Election Day, and if so do you expect them to be concentrated in minority neighborhoods? Are any complaints with the election system arising from communities of color as early voting begins? Are community, church or local civil rights groups organizing voter registration drives and efforts to help people cast ballots? Are they also recruiting or encouraging people in marginalized communities to serve as poll workers on Election Day?

ALLOCATING RESOURCES TOWARD KEY RACES

It’s so easy to focus on races for governor, for example, or the U.S. Senate, where the stakes are high because control of the chamber is up for grabs. But how can a newsroom create a game plan that includes coverage of seats for school board, elected judges, prosecutors and other races that often fly below the radar? This year, interest groups are working to influence those races. Here’s an AP story from Maine as an example, and another from Arizona.

— What AP is doing: One of the biggest tricks to election coverage is planning. The AP has been working on building midterm coverage for the better part of two years. We’ve been working through our assignments for how races will be covered for at least six months. Now that we’re in the final stages of the campaign, that level of detailed planning has given us the space to be flexible and cover stories that never would have been on our radar before. If you know who is going to handle the Pennsylvania Senate race, which has obviously been a top-tier race for more than a year, that frees up bandwidth that you can dedicate to coverage of school boards, judges, prosecutors, etc.

— Discussion to have in your newsroom: Has your coverage list excluded any important local races? Have you explored how interest groups are trying to influence them and why? Pay particular attention to school boards, city and town councils, and county commission or supervisor races. Many of those have attracted far-right candidates and money from outside interest groups.

GETTING AHEAD OF MISINFORMATION

The AP’s news verification team works daily to debunk the top claims circulating on the internet, while AP journalists craft stories and fact-checks to put viral misinformation in context and hold powerful people accountable for their words. Explainers and other stories that dive deep into important but complicated subjects, such as voting and vote counting, can help “prebunk” misinformation by equipping readers with the facts that will help them identify misinformation before they fall for it. Hyperlinks to past stories or resources can be an easy way to “show your work” and give readers more insight and background.

— What AP is doing: As the election nears, the AP is paying special attention to claims about the mechanics of voting — how votes are cast and counted, the security of the process, and related issues. That’s based on our experience from the past several cycles, as well as the claims that have gained traction over the last several months. We’re also monitoring for disinformation campaigns mounted by politicians or groups in the U.S., as well as foreign interference from nations like Russia or China, and examining how well tech companies are doing in fulfilling promises to tackle political misinformation. And we’re ready for claims similar to what we saw in 2016, 2018 or 2020: photos or video claiming to show “something” that happened at a polling place or election office. Often these claims recycle old photos or videos from earlier elections, or debunked claims.

— Discussion to have in your newsroom: How is your newsroom planning to monitor misinformation about voting and elections in your community? What social media platforms are you using? Have you identified the key political “influencers” in your region to watch as the election approaches? How will you write about alleged irregularities in voting or vote counting without amplifying potentially harmful misinformation? How will you write about “irregularities” without overstating them or making them seem suspicious? What will you do if other outlets in your region are reporting a claim that you haven’t confirmed yet? Are there ways to “prebunk” the likely spread of falsehoods about the vote, to give readers the tools they need to spot misinformation? When you write about misinformation, are you showing your work, so the reader understands why you reached the conclusion you did? Are you citing experts, attributing facts and using hyperlinks to enhance the transparency of your journalism? Finally, examine how misinformation has impacted specific parts of your community. Has it disproportionately affected certain demographic groups, identified by race, ethnicity, language, gender, geographic location? Who is amplifying misinformation in your community, and who is working to stop it?

ANTICIPATING CHALLENGES

New voting laws are in use for the first time on a wide scale, Republicans and conservative groups are challenging voter registrations and recruiting poll observers, local election offices are facing an array of difficulties, and some candidates are claiming fraud even before all ballots are cast and counted.

— What AP is doing: Local election offices may be facing staffing shortages or shortages of experienced workers, which can have an effect on Election Day. They might have to deal with printing errors on ballots. We might see groups or individuals challenging the eligibility of certain voters, or aggressive poll watchers getting too close to voters or poll workers. Certain groups might camp out at drop boxes and question voters dropping off ballots. Candidates may claim fraud, even before Election Day. The results of many races won’t be known on election night, potentially resulting in misinformation campaigns.

— Discussion to have in your newsroom: How is staffing at your local election office and does it have enough poll workers for Election Day? Has your local election office confirmed that its ballots are free of errors, such as blurry QR codes? Do they have enough paper to print new ballots if needed to backfill polling places on Election Day? How will you cover losing candidates who deny the election results, and do you have a plan for countering misinformation about races that are not called on election night? How soon before Election Day can your elections office start processing mailed ballots, and will a large number of these not be processed by Election Day? Have you talked to your local election officials about how they will handle aggressive poll watchers, both at polling places and at centralized tabulating offices? How have poll workers been trained to deal with people who challenge the eligibility of certain voters? Does local law enforcement have a plan for dealing with intimidation, or perhaps violent confrontations at polling places? Will drop box locations be a scene of confrontation, and how are they being secured and protected from vandalism? Prepare for the possibility that election staff, poll workers or voters might try to undermine the election system or attack voting equipment.

UNDERSTANDING WHO WON

The AP has been counting the vote and declaring winners in elections since 1848. During this midterm, our team of experts will count the vote in about 7,000 races across the country — everything from the U.S. Senate and House races to governor and other statewide races, state legislative races and more. The AP plays this unique and important role because there is no national body that does this.

— What AP is doing: Importantly, the AP does not make projections about who will win. We wait to declare a winner when there is no doubt that the trailing candidate can catch up. We wait until we have called 218 House races for either Democrats or Republicans, and whichever gets to 218 wins control. Sometimes it can take days or longer to call some races because they are close, and importantly because of the rules states have for processing and counting ballots. Because misinformation flourishes during elections and many people believe false claims and conspiracy theories around how votes are processed and counted, the AP puts a lot of emphasis on explanatory journalism during elections. This includes producing stories that explain how the AP declared a winner in key races. We also are doing a lot of explanatory stories about the democratic process — how voting machines work, how votes are counted, what are poll watchers, and much more. If any candidates declare victory before we have called a race, we can report that, but isn’t the lead and we clearly say the AP has not called the race. And if a candidate says there is voter fraud and that’s why they have not won an election, we can report that but not in the lead. And we must say right away whether they provided any evidence. And of course, we will continue to report this out and if no evidence is provided, we will say that.

— Discussion to have in your newsroom: It’s important to talk through various scenarios in advance and come up with a plan. Some possible scenarios: Do you have a plan for when a politician declares victory even though it’s premature? What about if a candidate says there is voter fraud? Are there things your newsroom can do to be transparent in your reporting? Are there stories you can do in advance that explain elections and how vote counting works in your coverage area? Are there stories you can produce to explain the process if winners are not clear on election night?

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Localize It is an occasional feature produced by The Associated Press for its customers’ use. Questions can be directed to Katie Oyan at koyan@ap.org.