Covering the Election? Keep These 7 Tips Handy This November

Election coverage can be one of the most exciting and chaotic parts of journalism. There are candidates to follow, voters to interview, results to track, data to analyze and breaking news to verify, often all at the same time.

The 2026 midterm elections are upon us this November, with all 435 seats in the U.S. House and roughly one-third of the Senate up for election, along with countless state and local races. Whether you’re covering a major congressional race or a local election that rarely gets national attention, preparation can make a huge difference.

Here are some tips and tools to help journalists stay organized, accurate and ready when Election Day arrives.

1. Build your source list before Election Day.

One of the easiest ways to make election coverage more stressful is waiting until Election Day to figure out who you need to contact.

Start building a source list now. That should include local and state election officials, county clerks, campaign contacts, political experts and community organizations. Save their phone numbers and email addresses somewhere you can access quickly.

Don’t rely solely on campaigns for information about voting or election procedures. Election administration is largely handled at the state and local level, so official election offices should be among your primary sources for voting and results information.

2. Bookmark the FEC website.

If you’re covering federal candidates, campaign finance is an important part of the story. The Federal Election Commission offers journalists resources covering campaign finance law, candidate and committee information, fundraising and contributions, independent expenditures and more. (FEC.gov)

The FEC also maintains a press office and publishes updates about campaign finance activity and Commission actions. Its resources can be particularly useful when you need to check whether a campaign finance claim is actually supported by public records.

Don’t just repeat a candidate’s statement about how much money they raised or who is funding an advertisement. Check the data yourself.

3. Know where your election results are coming from.

Election night is not the time to discover that you don’t know which source is providing your results.

The Associated Press is one major resource for election results, with its election operation collecting results from precincts and county election offices and comparing them with information from official state and county sources. The AP also explains that its race calls are based on analysis of whether the trailing candidate still has a path to victory—not simply on who happens to be ahead at a particular moment. (The Associated Press)

For journalists, the larger lesson is simple: know the difference between unofficial results, projections, race calls and certified results. A race can look decided before it officially is. Your wording should reflect that distinction.

4. Don’t let social media become your source of record.

Social media can be incredibly useful during an election. It can help journalists spot breaking news, find eyewitnesses, identify emerging stories, and see what candidates and voters are discussing. However, a viral post does not make it a factual one.

Before reporting something you’ve seen online, find the original source whenever possible. Check the date, location and context of photos and videos. Be especially careful with screenshots, cropped clips and old posts that suddenly begin circulating again.

If something seems almost too perfect for the story you’re working on, that’s probably a good reason to slow down and verify it.

5. Use data to find the story, not replace it.

Election coverage generates enormous amounts of data, from voter turnout and campaign spending to demographic information and historical election results.

Tools like spreadsheets, data visualization platforms and basic coding can help journalists identify patterns that might otherwise be difficult to spot. Even simple skills such as sorting a dataset, calculating percentages or creating a basic chart can turn a mountain of numbers into a much more understandable story—but remember,  that data doesn’t explain itself.

If turnout is dramatically different from a previous election, for example, your next step should be figuring out why. Talk to voters. Contact election officials. Look at the local circumstances. Use the numbers as a starting point for reporting, not the entire story.

6. Have an AI policy before you need one.

AI tools can be useful for organizing notes, brainstorming interview questions, summarizing large amounts of information or helping journalists work with datasets. However, election coverage is exactly the kind of reporting where accuracy matters most.

Never assume an AI-generated answer is accurate simply because it sounds confident. Verify names, dates, statistics, quotes, voting rules and other factual information against reliable primary sources.

AI can help you work faster, but it shouldn’t become a substitute for calling the election official, reading the document or conducting the interview yourself.

7. Prepare for the unexpected.

Finally, create an Election Day checklist.

Have backup chargers, recording equipment, notebooks and internet access sorted. Save important websites offline when possible. Know where your newsroom’s election results tools live. Keep a running list of developing stories and outstanding questions.

Also, prepare for the possibility that the biggest story won’t be the one you expected. Election journalism requires speed, but it also requires patience. The pressure to publish first can be intense, especially when social media is moving quickly. Your biggest advantage may be knowing when not to hit publish yet.

The goal is to provide readers with information they can trust when the news is moving faster than ever. 
 
A little preparation now can make that much easier when November arrives. 

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