A new version of the unreliable Voter News Service was unveiled late Tuesday by its consortium of America's major news broadcasters - the Associated Press, ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News Channel and NBC.

The new incarnation of the VNS, which failed spectacularly to deliver reliable results for the 2000 Presidential election and the 2002 mid-terms, is known as the "National Elections Pool", or NEP.

The NEP, which allows broadcasters to share polling costs, has hired Mitofsky Intl. and Edison Media Research to provide projections based on exit poll data for the Democratic primary elections and indeed the 2004 general election. The AP will provide vote counts.