In American elections, public confidence in the legitimacy of election results depends on how well elected officials and media outlets manage voter expectations. During this time of uncertainty, it is essential that both communicate clearly with voters to help them understand what they are seeing and why.
Election offices report unofficial results soon after polls close, and data aggregators (such as The Associated Press and Decision Desk HQ) collect those results and use them to call races nationally. Media outlets are also well-positioned to contextualize the trends in these unofficial results for the public, and they can fend off misinformation about what is happening.
In addition to reporting unofficial results, some media outlets also provide detailed information on the number of ballots that remain to be counted. This can be done without compromising the privacy of individual voters, by providing information on how many votes have been received from each type of ballot, and by breaking down results by precinct. This can help media outlets call races more quickly, and it helps the public better understand that unofficial results are contingent and likely to change as more ballots come in. It is important that all ballots are accounted for, and the public needs to know that these counts can take days (and sometimes weeks) to complete. This is especially true during the pandemic, when voters cast ballots through mail and in person at early voting locations that have been closed to the public due to the flu.