Special Primary Election Testing Advisory
EDITORS:
NEWS DIRECTORS:
NOT FOR BROADCAST, PUBLICATION OR USE ONLINE
The Maryland special primary election is Tuesday, Feb. 4.
Poll close: 8 p.m. EST
First results expected: 8:30 p.m. EST
CONTACTS - TESTING, REPORTS, DELIVERY, COVERAGE, DOCUMENTATION, SERVICES:
Direct questions about election testing, reports or delivery to AP elections services to AP Customer Support at 877-836-9477 or [email protected]. Premium service details can be found in welcome letters.
Direct questions about news and photo coverage to News Editor Steve McMillian, 1-804-643-6646 or [email protected].
Documentation for AP Elections services is available at http://aphelp.ap.org.
Members and customers interested in premium AP Election Services should contact their sales rep or Customer Support at 877-836-9477 or [email protected].
ELECTION PROFILE:
The February 4, 2020 special primary election is being held to nominate candidates to run in the general election to complete the unexpired term of the late Rep. Elijah Cummings who passed away October 17, 2019. Both the Republican and Democratic parties will have a contested race.
ANOMALIES:
Maryland has enacted a policy allowing voters to register and to vote on the same day, unlike the past policy requiring advance registration. As usual, absentee votes will be counted in days after the primary and can take up to a maximum of 10 days to complete. Procedures now require daily updates on the absentee totals from the counties in the CD.
TESTING INFORMATION:
Monday, Jan. 20 4:30-5:30 p.m. EST
Thursday, Jan. 23 2-3 p.m. EST
Monday, Jan. 27 4:30-5:30 p.m. EST
Wednesday, Jan. 29 4-5 p.m. EST
Thursday, Jan. 30 2-3 p.m. EST
Test results are created electronically to test the accuracy of the election night reporting system. They should not be broadcast, published, replicated or posted on websites. Report frequency in testing may not reflect the actual election night schedule. For example, county tables for contested statewide races move to Member Choice subscribers in each test but move just twice election night.
This advisory will be updated throughout the testing period. Races, candidates and precincts are considered preliminary until AP advises that they are final. Changes may be made up to Election Day.
Zeros will be transmitted after testing on the eve of the election, and again from 1-2 p.m. EST Tuesday, Feb. 4.
Race calls: AP will make race calls on election night unless a race is too close to call. Race calls will be made during testing, except on the day of the final test.
There are no uncontested races on the ballot.
Winners: AP will move a list of unofficial winners, MD-Winners, at the end of tabulation and during each test, except on the final day of testing.
End of tabulation: AP will advise when its election night tabulation of results has concluded, generally before 6 p.m. EST the day after the election.
ELECTION DAY
Premium Election Customers:
API, APEO-FTP, ANPA-FTP, DNE Elections will have zeros by 2 a.m. EST Election Day.
AP Newsroom and Webfeeds Users:
On Election Day from 1-2 p.m. EST there will be a "live" (contest) transmission of reports with zeros sent to AP Newsroom and Webfeeds. Pull in these live zero reports to clear your systems of test data.
DEFINITIONS OF KEY WORDS IN STATE SLUGS:
"TopRaces-Glance-Sum" contains race-wide results in summary format for contests AP considers editorially significant.
“Cnty" provides results in tabular format by county for a race.
"CntyLong" provides results in summary format by county for a race
ELECTION NIGHT SLUGS BY SERVICE / ELECTION NIGHT REPORT SCHEDULE
Here are the slugs for the reports AP will provide and approximate times they will move for each service on election night:
Premium Elections Results via Digital Feeds (API, ANPA-FTP, APEO-FTP, DNE Elections): Results are updated every one to three minutes for API/DNE and four to five minutes for APEO-FTP and ANPA-FTP.
MD-TopRaces-Glance-Sum
MD-Dem-House-7-Cnty
MD-GOP-House-7-Cnty
MD-Dem-House-7-CntyLong
MD-GOP-House-7-CntyLong
Member Choice Basic / Member Choice Plus / Member Choice Complete, includes Webfeeds and AP Newsroom:
MD-TopRaces-Glance-Sum, at :20 and :50
MD-Dem-House-7-Cnty, twice at 10:30 p.m. and 1:30 a.m.
MD-GOP-House-7-Cnty, twice at 10:30 p.m. and 1:30 a.m.
OpenWire / NewsPower / Newspower Max, includes Webfeeds and AP Newsroom:
MD-TopRaces-Glance-Sum, at :20 and :50
Headlines, includes Webfeeds and AP Newsroom:
MD-TopRaces-Glance-Sum, at :50
The AP, Mid-Atlantic