After voters turn in their ballots and polls close, the votes have to be counted. Here's how process works.

ARIZONA, USA — Following the close of the polls on Election Day, eyes will turn to the results to work to figure out who will win local, state and federal races in Arizona. >> Download the 12News app for the latest local breaking news straight to your phone. The process to begin making calls on those races starts way before Election Day, and it's something the Associated Press has been doing for more than 170 years, as there is no national entity that declares the winners on Presidential elections.

12News will be waiting for the AP to call races up and down Arizona ballots. In an interview, Anna Johnson, the Washington Bureau Chief for the AP said the news organization will be calling about 5,000 contested races across the country. "While this has evolved and become bigger, the fundamental thing about accuracy and being right and being able to call the winners when there is no path forward for the trailing candidate to overtake the leading candidate.



That hasn't changed," Johnson said. That's the measure the AP uses: Can the trailing candidates catch the leading candidate? If the answer is no, the race won't be called. But that doesn't mean that all ballots will have had to be tabulated by election officials to call the race.

The AP said they're using not just vote totals, but studying how voters were cast, what votes have been counted so far and how many ballots may still be left to count. "Once we are calling a race, we're going to put out in those key races. We're going to detail exactly how we did it.

We're going to show the facts behind our race call to be transparent, to show our work and to put that information out there so that people can understand and trust our race calls," Johnson said. The 2024 Decision Desk at NBC will also be calling races, including the Presidency. "I think that is the question that is on everybody's mind, when, when will we actually know? And it sort of depends," John Lapinski, NBC's Director of Elections said.

The reason is that states count votes differently from one another. One factor, Lapinski said, early ballots and early voting. Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer noted in the 2022 election, nearly 20 percent of all votes cast were early ballots dropped off on Election Day.

Those ballots take work and time to process and tabulate. RELATED: Decision 2024: Why it could take 13 days to count all the ballots in Maricopa County "A place like Arizona or Nevada, those are states that, you know, I would be very surprised if we could project those races, even on Wednesday, it probably take a few days to call them because of the way they process their votes," Lapinski said. Before a race is called though, results will be released as ballots are tabulated.

Maricopa County Elections anticipates the first drop of results at 8 p.m. on election night.

That drop will be made up of all early ballots that have already been tabulated. Watch 12News+ for free You can now watch 12News content anytime, anywhere thanks to the 12News+ app! The free 12News+ app from 12News lets users stream live events — including daily newscasts like "Today in AZ" and "12 News" and our daily lifestyle program, "Arizona Midday"—on Roku and Amazon Fire TV . 12News+ showcases live video throughout the day for breaking news, local news, weather and even an occasional moment of Zen showcasing breathtaking sights from across Arizona.

Users can also watch on-demand videos of top stories, local politics, I-Team investigations, Arizona-specific features and vintage videos from the 12News archives. Roku : Add the channel from the Roku store or by searching for "12 News KPNX." Amazon Fire TV : Search for "12 News KPNX" to find the free 12News+ app to add to your account , or have the 12News+ app delivered directly to your Amazon Fire TV through Amazon.

com or the Amazon app. More ways to get 12News On your phone: Download the 12News app for the latest local breaking news straight to your phone. iTunes Google Play On your streaming device: Download 12News+ to your streaming device The free 12News+ app from 12News lets users stream live events — including daily newscasts like "Today in AZ" and "12 News" and our daily lifestyle program, "Arizona Midday"—on Roku and Amazon Fire TV.

12News+ showcases live video throughout the day for breaking news, local news, weather and even an occasional moment of Zen showcasing breathtaking sights from across Arizona. On social media: Find us on Facebook , Twitter , Instagram and YouTube ..