What to expect in North Dakota on Election Day

What voters will decide

North Dakota voters will elect leaders for federal, state and other offices Tuesday. Those contests span multiple levels of government, so Election Day will produce results for offices with different responsibilities and constituencies.

The vote count will develop as ballots are tallied. Each update will add to the reported results, while the AP Decision Team evaluates key facts and follows the data associated with the count. The team’s work will focus on what the reported vote totals show as counting continues.

How to read the results

Election results may change as additional votes are included in the tally. An early set of totals represents only the votes reported at that point, not votes that have yet to be added. Later updates provide a more complete picture of each contest.

Because North Dakotans are voting for offices at several levels of government, results should be read contest by contest. A development in one contest does not establish the outcome of another, even when votes for both offices appear on the same Election Day ballot.

What the AP team will monitor

The AP Decision Team will use key facts and monitor data points while votes are counted. Its review will continue alongside the tally, with attention to how each new update affects the reported totals in the relevant contest.

The central points for voters and readers are the amount of the vote included in each update and how the totals change as counting proceeds. The process applies across the federal, state and other offices being decided Tuesday.