The five TV network members of the National Election Pool have inked a deal through 2008 with The Associated Press to provide vote tabulation services starting with the 2004 president primaries.
ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and Fox News Channel said AP will provide continuous running election-night returns on presidential, gubernatorial and congressional races as well as selected statewide ballot propositions.
AP will be taking over one of the two primary functions of the Voter News Service, a consortium created by AP and participating network organizations in 1993 to conduct exit-polling and count votes. The National Election Pool replaces VNS, which was disbanded after election-night failures in 2000 and 2002. AP plans to continue providing election returns to its other members and subscribers as part of its regular news service.
