Networks vow not to call U.S. races early

Determined to avoid a rerun of election night 2000, when they called the presidential election based on premature -- and incorrect -- projections in Florida, chastened television newscasters will refrain from projecting winners until each poll in that state has closed.

The new, more conservative election coverage policy will be used by ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC and BET. It is expected to push the results of several cliffhanger races into the wee hours on Tuesday. Fox News has made arrangements for its coverage to last until midnight if necessary.

“We’re not going to be sneaky about this, saying an overwhelming number of men and woman have voted for candidate X,” said Bill Wheatley, vice president of NBC News.

“We’ll do exit polls about who they voted for and what issues were on their mind,” he added. “We might say that opinion was evenly divided on certain issues, but we wouldn’t do anything that would indicate who was winning.”

CNN is not relying solely on Voter News Service, the consortium of news agencies that, until the 2000 election, served as the main source of voter data and analysis.

In addition to VNS, the cable news network is dispatching hundreds of workers to precincts in 10 closely monitored races around the country to report the results as they are announced.

Election night executive producer David Bohrman said CNN RealVote means “there’s not going to be a wink-and-a-nod way for us to call a race while the polls are open.”

CBS executives are aiming to buff up the network’s credibility and accuracy by stationing analysts in the studio, within earshot of the anchor.

“If there are any disputes about winners, they’ll be in closer contact and be able to hear each other a little better,” said Al Ortiz, executive producer of special events for CBS News.

The election comes during the crucial ratings sweeps period, which means that instead of blocking out prime-time periods for continuous coverage, the broadcast networks will gingerly provide updates throughout Tuesday evening, with an hourlong special at 10 or 11 p.m., when they would ordinarily air the nightly news.

Cable news networks, however, such as MSNBC, CNN and Fox News, have dedicated the evening to election coverage and analysis.

And BET will air a special edition of its nightly news at 11 p.m., “Balance of Power ... Weighing the African-American Impact.”

Almost every executive producer of election night coverage said the public deserves more transparency in calling races. As a result of the premature results announced in 2000, many voters didn’t bother heading to polls that were still open.

“The 2000 election taught a lot of lessons to a lot of people in politics and the media,” Bohrman said.

“Hopefully, we can take advantage of those hard lessons and do a better job.”