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The Associated Press (AP) has partnered with Kalshi to provide official US election results on its prediction market platform as the 2026 primary season approaches.
Under the SETTLEMENTThe AP will deliver its real-time vote totals and formal race calls from federal and major state contests. Those numbers, widely considered the benchmark for election night accuracy, will be displayed directly on Kalshi’s site next to the platform’s market-based projections.
Kalshi saw rapid growth during the 2024 presidential racewhich brings in more than 500 million visits as users track moving odds and place bets on political outcomes. People can trade the probability of future events, including elections. By adding AP results to the mix, Kalshi plans to give users a side-by-side view of how the vote count is unfolding and how the markets will react in real time.
“The Associated Press has for nearly two centuries played a vital role in American democracy as the most authoritative source for accurate election night results,” said David Scott, AP vice president for elections.
He said the collaboration “will expand the reach of reliable AP election data, meeting viewers where they have reliable information about who voters have chosen to lead their country and community.”
Kalshi’s head of politics, Jaron Zhou, said the merger would help the company create what it called “the main destination to experience the election.” Zhou said combining the official AP vote results with Kalshi’s transparent market forecasts will create a clearer picture of what is happening at the polls.
Kalshi expands election data partnerships through AP
The AP has a long history in the vote counting business, with election operations dating back to the 1800s. The system gathers results from thousands of local jurisdictions and state offices. In 2024, the organization reported 99.9 percent accuracy after tabulating votes and calling winners in nearly 7,000 races.
It recently renewed and expanded arrangements to provide results to major television networks and digital outlets, including ABC News, CBS News, CNN, NBC News and FOX News Media.
At the same time, Kalshi made its own high-profile media partnerships. The company hit a exclusive deal with CNBC to integrate its prediction market data into network coverage, and it entered a separate in partnership with CNN to bring its election markets to the audience of that outlet.
That CNN arrangement drew scrutiny on Capitol Hill. A The US congressman has publicly questioned the relationship in a letter, raising concerns about how the prediction market’s content is presented alongside traditional news coverage.
Prediction markets continue to attract attention as an alternative gauge of public expectations. As the political scientist and former US diplomat Michael Montgomery once said: “What we can see are prediction markets that operate in the manner of an informal ‘big data’ application that combines the predictions of thousands of observers with different perspectives and methods and then releases a prediction.
Featured image: Kalshi / AP via X
The post AP has partnered with Kalshi for 2026 primary coverage election results first appeared in ReadWrite.
