"Instead of relying on crowd-sourcing or vulnerable technology, our 50-state network of local reporters have first-hand knowledge of their territories and trusted relationships with county clerks and other local officials. These stringers collect votes at a local level.
We also gather results from state or county websites and electronic data feeds from states.
On election night, race callers in each state are armed with a wealth of additional detailed information from our election research team, including demographics, the number of absentee ballots, and political issues that may affect the outcome of races they must call.
Race callers are part of AP’s Decision Team, which declared winners in more than 7,000 races in the 2020 general election."