As election night approaches, Americans will turn to their televisions, computers and smartphones to watch results come in for local, state and national races. Over the years, news coverage of winners and losers has become must-watch programming – even if it is, as longtime NBC election-coverage producer Reuven Frank put it in 1991, “a TV show about adding.” The main goal of journalists on election night was – and is – to be the first...

Americans assume that free, fair, and credible elections are essential to democracy. They also assume that citizens are free to vote the way they want, and that therefore election results reflect the public will. Voting is also seen as a civic responsibility, something that all eligible Americans should do, though they are not compelled to do so by law. And, for Americans, determination of eligibility to vote should be based on factors such as citizenship,...