In the USA, there is no central election authority as there is in Sweden, for example.
In addition, the election in the United States is governed by 50 different election laws, one for each state.
Therefore, it is institutes, news agencies and television companies that make their own estimates and forecasts at the federal level.
- Most people make the same assessment when they award someone a victory in a state.
But they want to be 99.5 percent sure that they are right, says Henrik Ekengren Oscarsson.
Mixing of different data
Ekengren Oscarsson takes the television company ABC as an example.
- Their computer simulations are based on historical election data, polling station surveys and ready-made votes.
How do they collect the data?
- They refuel them or are in place to get the latest information.
The reason why we have such nice and fast reporting is because it puts in an awful lot of work.
Otherwise, we would have had to sit and look around at 50 different election authorities.
That's why Arizona is blue on SVT
SVT does not make its own election forecast, but the updates in SVT's election graphics are based on American institutes and newsrooms.
- If there are three such independent sources who say the same thing, SVT colors that state blue or red, says Henrik Ekengren Oscarsson.
Arizona is one such example where not everyone, but at least three different sources, announced Biden as the winner at 8pm on Wednesday night.
- There are still large television companies that have not colored Arizona yet.