The Associated Press (AP) is getting ready for the 2024 US election‚ which has been different from past ones. Anna Johnson and Steven Sloan‚ who are in charge of APs election coverage talked about how theyʼre dealing with this unusual election cycle
Johnson the Washington bureau chief‚ says that the US has become more split up in the last 10 years. She points out that fewer people are unsure about who they like or dont like in politics. This means that only a small number of states (and even fewer people in those states) will decide who becomes president
The main things voters care about this time are different. Sloan‚ the Deputy Washington bureau chief‚ says that people are worried about many issues. These include:
- The economy and inflation
- Democracy and if it will stay strong
- Abortion rights
- Immigration
One big problem is that thereʼs a lot of wrong information going around. An AP-NORC poll from 12/2023 found that most Republicans think Joe Biden wasnʼt fairly elected. Sloan says that AP is working hard to explain things clearly and tell people what they can trust
AP is getting ready for election night (11/5/2024) in many ways. Theyʼre explaining how voting works in different states‚ because its not the same everywhere. Johnson says theyʼll keep explaining this during the election‚ because it might take a while to count all the votes
This election has had some unusual things happen. In July 2024‚ there was a security problem that Sloan says was the worst since 1980. He also mentioned that its not normal for a president who could run again to decide not to‚ so close to the election
We are preparing for possible scenarios that‚ you know‚ the vote count could go on for some time
Johnson and Sloan both say that AP is ready for whatever might happen. They know the election could be close‚ and theyʼre prepared to keep covering the story even after election night. This might include:
- Legal fights about the results
- Questions about if the election was done right
- Explaining why it takes so long to count votes in some places
Even though this election is different‚ AP is sticking to its usual way of covering elections. They want to give people clear and fair information about whats happening. Johnson says that while theyʼre ready for a lot of things‚ there could still be surprises – thats just how news works