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Editors, Broadcasters:

Here is a look at AP's plans for election night, Tuesday, Nov. 6, across all formats and customer levels. Please contact customer support for specific information about services you receive at customersupport(at)ap.org or call 877-836-9477. For editorial questions, please contact Liz Sidoti for text at lsidoti(at)ap.org; David Ake for photos at jdake(at)ap.org; Denise Vance for video and broadcast at dvance(at)ap.org; Paul Cheung for interactives at pcheung(at)ap.org and the Nerve Center for mobile and social media questions at 800-845-8450 (ext. 1600).

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AP VOTE COUNT/TABULATION:

AP will count national, state and some regional and local races. Results are updated throughout the night.

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RACE CALLS:

AP will call the winner in the presidential race state by state, plus the winners of 33 Senate, 11 gubernatorial and 435 congressional races. First word of each presidential, Senate and gubernatorial call, as well as the overall call of the presidential winner, will move from Washington as a national NewsAlert. All congressional calls will move first to state audiences, with Washington moving the national news alert announcing the party that wins control of Congress. State-based race callers also will designate winners in nearly 4,000 additional down-ticket races, from state constitutional officers to state legislatures to ballot initiatives.

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NATIONAL STORIES:

We plan a main story, slugged BC-US--Presidential Campaign, that will be updated throughout the day and evening as results come in, plus an analysis, a House roundup, a Senate roundup and separates on Obama and Romney. In addition, we will analyze and do stories on exit poll results and ballot initiatives and on other issues as warranted. Starting early on Election Day, we will move a color story about people voting in various parts of the country.

In addition, throughout the day and night, we will provide a rolling series of short updates from AP reporters around the country, slugged BC-US--Election Watch, that explores all facets of Election Day, from the candidates to the voters to TV coverage. It will appear as individual items throughout the day on AP's Big Story site and be compiled into a frequently updated collection of short items for use in newspapers, on websites and in AP Mobile. We also will provide extensive coverage of any problems at the polls.

Detailed advisories will move each day up until Election Day listing additional stories that can be used anytime, such as profiles.

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STATE STORIES:

Each state report is anchored by a main story, slugged BC-xx--Statename Election, which is a comprehensive roundup of a state's election winners and losers, with a focus on the leading contest on the ballot in each state.

The reports will also include a series of separate stories on top races in each state, which could include such races as governor, U.S. Senate, critical U.S. House races and key ballot issues, as well as roundups of congressional and state legislative elections and down-ballot statewide offices and ballot questions. A detailed advisory will move for each state and will be available from your Chief of Bureau.

In states where AP and the National Election Pool are conducting exit polling, the AP will include details from the survey in the separate election stories and in a detailed glance. The AP will also publish a full story about the exit poll in selected states. Also moving in each state is a AP News Guide or Five Things to Know glance a lively written primer on Election Day that explains everything from polling hours, the effects of redistricting and voter ID requirements

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PHOTOS:

We will have several photographer crews covering the presidential candidates' election night rallies. Both locations will also have a team of editors filing directly to Photostream for rapid photo movement.

We also will cover all U.S. Senate candidates' election night rallies, plus a those in a few House races based on national interest. Additionally, states will cover their races for governor on a regional basis.

Early on Election Day, we will move a selection of images of citizens casting their ballots from polling places nationwide. In addition, photographers traveling with the presidential candidates are using Instagram to document the quirky behind-the-scenes moments of the campaign. Their work can be seen by searching (hash)aponthetrail.

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VIDEO

We will have live video coverage on APTN Direct throughout the day and into the evening until after the presidential race is called and through the victory and concession speeches. AP will also be providing continuous live coverage of polling locations across all time zones leading into the evening speeches. We will turn around video edits across all video products including voting, speeches, reaction and analysis.

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RADIO

There will be 2 minute Live Special Reports at :20 and :40 minutes past the hour on the AP-1 special events channel until after the race is called and through the victory and concession speeches. We expect to begin them after the first polls close. They will be titled Campaign 2012 and will be anchored by AP Radio's Ed Donahue. Election news will top the hourly AP-1 newscasts, :55 updates and :31 headlines, barring breaking news. AP Radio will also offer both anchored (AP-2) and unanchored (AP-3) coverage of the victory and concession speeches.

We'll have reporters with the Obama and Romney campaigns and covering key congressional races from Capitol Hill.

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BROADCAST WIRES

At 6 p.m. EST Tuesday, we will break format on the national broadcast wire to focus on election coverage. Selected wire fixtures will move prior to the first East Coast poll closings. Sports Right Nows that move between 7 p.m. and 2 a.m. will be canceled. Separates on non-urgent, non-election stories will be canceled or delayed. From 6 p.m. to 2 a.m., we will move only: Right Nows (1000 words maximum) and NewsMinutes containing election news and only the biggest non-election stories, AP Network News billboards, Sports scores and The Nation's Weather.

The 1st Wednesday SportsMinute will move just before 3 a.m. Morning Prep will move at its usual 3:05 a.m. time Wednesday morning.

We will return to a normal wire schedule at 4 a.m. Wednesday, barring unusual election-related newsflow. Election tables will move automatically. Detailed advisories will move on the wires through the afternoon of Election Day.

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SOCIAL MEDIA:

Editors will be tweeting frequently from the AP (http://apne.ws/SJLgT0) and APCampaign (http://apne.ws/SJLo4V) accounts and updating the AP Facebook (http://apne.ws/hO828o) and Google Plus (http://apne.ws/SJLtFu) pages during the day and evening. Updates will include presidential, Senate, House and gubernatorial results, as well as other key moments of the day, real-time observations and links to AP spot stories, analyses and explanatory content in all formats. Additionally, tweets from individual AP journalists covering the election can be followed in this list: http://apne.ws/SJL4TB

AP will also be mining social networks for newsworthy tips, trends and user-generated content related to the election and putting them through our extensive verification process.

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INTERACTIVES in HTML:

Election Results: Displays live election results for the 2012 presidential, Congress and governors' races. For election subscribers.

Balance of Power widget: Displays the balance of power in Congress. For election subscribers.

Exit Poll: Chart shows 2012 presidential election national exit poll results.

Historical Voting Patterns: Explores exit polls and historic voting patterns for all U.S. presidential elections since 1964.

Instagram: Campaign trail photos taken by AP photographers using the popular photo-sharing tool, Instagram.

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PRINT GRAPHICS:

Tuesday, Nov. 6:

ELN Roundup: Graphic shows U.S. map with states won by candidate, chart of electoral vote totals and the balance of power for both branches of Congress; 2c x 4 inches; FREQUENCY: Will move hourly beginning with results as of 9 p.m. (ETA 9:15)

ELN Congress: Graphic shows map of U.S. Senate race results with the balance of power for both branches of Congress from 2010 to 2012; 2c x 4 1/2 inches; FREQUENCY: Will move hourly beginning with results as of 10 p.m. (ETA 10:15)

ELN Governors: Map of the U.S. showing party affiliation of winner in the 11 governor races; 2c x 3 inches; ETA pending results.

ELN Ballots: Graphic shows results for ballot measures of national interest; 3c x 5 1/2 inches; ETA pending results.

ELN 6C Results: Centerpiece graphic shows presidential race results by county and county population, map of states won by candidate and which states changed from 2008, charts of electoral vote totals and popular vote summary, balance of power for both branches of Congress from 2010 to 2012 and map of Senate winners by state; 6c x 14 inches; ETA 4 a.m. pending results.

ELN Exit Polls: Graphic shows national exit poll results; ETA pending results.

Wednesday, Nov. 7:

ELN Voter Turnout: Graphic compares voter turnout from 2012 to previous elections.

ELN Congress History: Graphic shows historical changes in Congress, updated with 2012 results.

ELN Presidential History: Graphic compares the 2012 presidential results to previous elections.

ELN Ratings: Graphic shows election night viewership by network.

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Tuesday, Nov. 6:

U.S. map highlights each state as AP calls the state. (This will be updated constantly throughout election night.)

U.S. House of Representatives chart showing balance of power. (This will be updated periodically throughout election night.)

U.S. Senate chart showing balance of power. (This will be updated periodically throughout election night.)

Graphic for president- and vice president-elect

Headshot for president- and vice president-elect

Animations

3D logo of Election 2012

3D logo of Democrat and Republican icons

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AP MOBILE

The AP Mobile app will provide timely updates on presidential and other key races. We will update a static state-by-state map graphic at regular intervals with the congressional and electoral balance of power and feature related stories. We plan to use push alerts and breaking news banners to send out developments after those results have gone out on the wire. AP will also feature a running series of stories with Election Day news sights and sounds. The existing Election 2012 Big Story on mobile will remain in place as the compendium of election news, with a mix of election stories, photos, videos and HTML5 interactive graphics.

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BIG STORY WEB SITE:

The Big Story website will gather all of AP's extensive election coverage in one place. The page (http://bigstory.ap.org/topic/election-2012) will be updated throughout the day and night with the latest news and analyses, video and photos on all the big races. It will also highlight the Election Watch feature, a frequently updated text feed of interesting, short-form material from AP journalists across the country. (http://bigstory.ap.org/election-watch)