ShareAlaska Caucuses Testing, Advisory
The Associated PressEDITORS:
NEWS DIRECTORS:
Alaska's Caucuses will be on March 6. Testing of the AP's Election Night reporting system will begin Monday, Feb. 20. Here are the details:
UPDATES:
MARCH 6 ALASKA's CAUCUSES
_Poll Closing: 8:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. Eastern
_Election Night Results: Election results are expected by 10 p.m. Alaska time.
_Race calls: AP will make race calls Election Night in the following contested races, unless they are too close to call: GOP president.
_Uncontested races:
_Winners: AP will send a list of unofficial winners in called races at the end of its Election Night results tabulation. The winners list also will be sent during each test. Premium services subscribers will find AK- Winners at ftp://electionsonline.ap.org/AK/anpa/.
_End of Election Night results tabulation: AP will advise when it has concluded tabulating results for the
3/6/12 Alaska Republican Party caucus event.
ELECTION PROFILE
Caucuses convene at 4 p.m. in 40 legislative districts. Voting hours are from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Alaska time. Results will be made available by 10 p.m. Alaska time (2 a.m. ET), according to the Alaska Republican Party.
ELECTION ANOMALIES
-- This caucus event is a party run, party administered affair. No voting equipment is being used, and professional election administration officials are not managing the process.
-- There is a formal ballot with the following candidates: Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Rick
Santorum and Uncommitted.
-- In most state run elections, the Associated Press can rely on the formats of results as they move from precinct to county to the state and/or directly to the AP, and we can make contact with the local election officials. This enables the AP to compare valid sources from various levels, correct or confirm unexpected results, provide real time information about the process, and to verify all totals.
-- In party administered events, the APs ability to provide these services is often constrained or precluded.
-AP will allocate GOP delegates during daily tests and on Election Night. The Alaska caucus is a straw poll and its results are binding for national delegates. The total number of pledged delegates to be allocated are
24.
-- There will be no vote count tables for the Democratic Presidential caucuses, either during tests or on Election Night, since President Barack Obama has no announced challenger. The BC-AP Delegate Count report will include a Democratic table, but no Democratic delegates will be allocated during testing or on Election Night.
TESTING SCHEDULE
There will be a test transmission from 2-2:30 p.m. Eastern Election Day, but it will only include zero vote totals.
AP's national Election Night reporting system also will be tested during state testing. See national testing advisories for details: "National News/Broadcast Advisory Slugs."
Precincts: Statewide and race-specific precinct totals used in initial testing are preliminary. AP will advise when precinct totals are updated and final for Election Night.
Important note about AP WebFeeds: With the introduction of AP WebFeeds, it is imperative that customers validate the formatting of election tables sent to state and national newspaper wires during weekly tests. Direct questions to AP Customer Support at (877) 836-9477 or apcustomersupport(at)ap.org.
TESTING BASICS
During the test period, it is vital to read daily testing advisories, which move to premium subscribers' FTP folders and to news wire advisory queues. Advisories will note updates to tables, including changes to candidates, races, precinct totals, etc., and will indicate the test date when noted updates will appear. Databases can change up to Election Day.
Capture each day's test during the test period, including the Monday test immediately preceding the Tuesday election. Ensure you have the latest updates and that tables include votes for every candidate in every race and that every race goes to 100 percent of precincts reporting, unless otherwise noted in an advisory.
All tables are reported on every five-to-seven minutes to digital services.
Tables scheduled to be reported to the news wires on even hours will be seen during the first hour of testing. Tables scheduled to be reported on odd hours will be seen during the second hour of testing.
Test table results have been created electronically to test the accuracy of the Election Night reporting system. They do not reflect an expectation of Election Night results. They should not be broadcast, published or replicated on websites.
CONTACTS - ELECTION REPORTS
_Direct questions about election tables and testing to regional election coordinator Kathy Korte: Phone:
505-730-5699 Email: kkorte_contractor(at)ap.org
_Direct questions about news and photo coverage to news editor Mark Thiessen: Phone: 907-272-7549
Email: mthiessen(at)ap.org
CONTACTS - TECHNICAL
_Direct questions about AP Elections Online delivery to AP Customer Support at 877-836-9477 or apcustomersupport(at)ap.org. Documentation for the service also can be found at http://apdigitalsupport.ap.org.
CONTACTS - SERVICE CHANGES
_Print members interested in premium services should contact Chief of Bureau Nancy Trott: Phone: 206-
285-0819 Email: ntrott(at)ap.org
_TV members should contact regional television executive Kevin Nunn: Phone: 480-710-9828 Email:
knunn(at)ap.org
_Large-market radio members should contact sales executive Anita Muhammad: Phone: 202-641-9061
Email: amuhammad(at)ap.org
_Small-market radio members should contact Anita Muhammad: Phone: 202-641-9061 Email:
amuhammad(at)ap.org
DEFINITIONS OF KEY WORDS IN SLUGS
"TopRaces-Glance-Sum" includes vote summaries, giving the total number of precincts reporting, the candidates' names, their vote tallies and the percentage of the vote they have at that point.
"Delg-SumD" is a state delegate allocation summary. It lists delegates allocated to each of the GOP
candidates.
ELECTION NIGHT SLUGS BY SERVICE
_Here are the slugs for the races AP will be tabulating and the approximate times they will be moving each hour to digital feeds and various news/broadcast wires after polls close Election Night:
DIGITAL FEEDS (ANPA-FTP, APEO-FTP, HOSTED) Results are updated every five minutes.
BC-AK-TopRaces-Glance-Sum
BC-AK-GOP-Delg-SumD
MEMBER CHOICE COMPLETE/LIMITED
BC-AK-TopRaces-Glance-Sum, every 30 minutes starting at :20
BC-AK-Delg-SumD, every 30 minutes starting at :05
OPENWIRE/NEWSPOWER MAX
BC-AK-TopRaces-Glance-Sum, every 30 minutes starting at :20
BC-AK-Delg-SumD, every hour at :35
NEWSPOWER
BC-AK-TopRaces-Glance-Sum, every 30 minutes starting at :20
BC-AK-Delg-SumD, every hour at :35
HEADLINES
BC-AK-TopRaces-Glance-Sum, every 60 minutes at :50
The AP-Anchorage