Americans will cast roughly 160 million ballots by the time Election Day comes to a close — in several different ways, including many submitted a few weeks before polls even open.They will choose a president, members of Congress and thousands of state lawmakers, city council members, attorneys general, secretaries of state — and in Texas, a railroad commissioner who has nothing to do with the trains.
This year’s election also comes at a moment in the nation’s history when the very basics of how America votes are being challenged as never before by disinformation and distrust.It can be tough to make sense of it all. To help better understand the way America picks its president and its leaders — all the way down the ballot — we’re publishing a series aimed at assisting readers in making sense of the American democracy.
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FILE – Ballot boxes are brought in to for a ranked choice voting tabulation in Augusta, Maine, Nov. 12, 2018. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)
FILE – A clerk hands a ballot to a voter on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022, in Lewiston, Maine. Maine uses a ranked-choice voting system for some of its election races. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)
FILE – A county worker loads mail-in ballots into a scanner that records the votes at a tabulating area at the Clark County Election Department, Oct. 29, 2020, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)
FILE – Jim Smith steps out of a voting booth after marking his ballot at a polling site for the New Hampshire primary, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016, in Nashua, N.H. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)
FILE – Poll workers help people vote in the Nevada primary at a polling place, Tuesday, June 11, 2024, in Henderson, Nev. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)
FILE – A canvas observer photographs Lehigh County provisional ballots as vote counting in the general election continues, Nov. 6, 2020, in Allentown, Pa. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)
FILE – An election worker sorts vote-by-mail ballots at the Miami-Dade County Board of Elections, Monday, Oct. 26, 2020, in Doral, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)
FILE – Associated Press journalists David Espo, bureau chief Jonathan Wolman and Walter Mears work on Election Day, November 1992, in Washington. (AP Photo, File)
FILE – Staffers work on election night at the Washington bureau of The Associated Press on Nov. 3, 1964. (AP Photo, File)
FILE – Associated Press Washington Bureau Chief Julie Pace, left, talks with Stephen Ohlemacher, right, on election night at the Washington bureau of The Associated Press, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)
FILE – Then-Associated Press Washington bureau chief Sally Buzbee, talks with Stephen Ohlemacher, who in 2020 is the decision desk editor, in the early morning hours of Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016, at the Washington bureau of The Associated Press during election night. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick, File)
FILE – Mack Betts checks his watch after passing out voting informational fliers as an election worker takes in a voting sign as early absentee voting ends for the day at Wayne County Community College in Detroit, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2020. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)
FILE – Workers count votes on election night at the Los Angeles County Registrar’s Tally Operations Center in Downey, Calif., Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. (Keith Birmingham/The Orange County Register via AP, File)
FILE – A bowl of voting stickers for early voters is shown March 15, 2020, in Steubenville, Ohio. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
FILE – Voters wait in line to vote at their polling station early, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)
FILE – Supporters of Democrat Terry McAuliffe watch vote reports at an election party in McLean, Va., Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021.(AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)
FILE – Voting booths are set up at a polling place in Newtown, Pa., Tuesday, April 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
FILE – A voter walks to a voting machine during the Nevada primary at a polling place, Tuesday, June 11, 2024, in Henderson, Nev. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)
FILE – Election judges demonstrate the accuracy of the city’s voting equipment on Friday, Oct. 28, 2022, in Minneapolis. Before any election, the state’s law requires the city’s voting machines to be publicly tested for accuracy. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr, File)
FILE – A polling judge, right, helps guide a voter’s ballot into a voting machine during the Pennsylvania primary election, at Mont Alto United Methodist Church in Alto, Pa., on May 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
FILE – A person votes at a polling site for the presidential primary election on Tuesday, March 12, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)
FILE – A voting machine is seen at a polling site for the Presidential primary election on Tuesday, March 12, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)
FILE – Esmeralda County Commissioner Tim Hipp, top center, rolls up printed voting results during a hand recount of votes, Friday, June 24, 2022, in Goldfield, Nev. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)
FILE – Esmeralda County Commissioner Ralph Keyes, center, works on a hand recount of votes with others, June 24, 2022, in Goldfield, Nev. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)
FILE – Then-interim Nye County Clerk Mark Kampf works in an office where early votes are being counted, Oct. 26, 2022, in Pahrump, Nev. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)
FILE – A voter marks a ballot for the midterm election at a polling site at the Roger Williams Park Botanical Center in Providence, R.I., Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)
FILE – A voter registration table is seen at a political event for Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022, in Fredericksburg, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
FILE – An election official checks a voter’s photo identification at an early voting polling site in Austin, Texas, Feb. 26, 2014. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
FILE – The shadow of a voter entering the precinct at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Gluckstadt, Miss., is cast on a privacy divider for people filling out ballots at Precinct 205 at during the primary election on March 12, 2024. (Barbara Gauntt/The Clarion-Ledger via AP)
FILE – Sgt. 1 C Stanley Johnson of Portland, Ore., writes election returns on a special bulletin board at U.S. Military headquarters in Saigon, Nov. 8, 1972. (AP Photo/Neal Ulevich, File)
FILE – Carol Fulton, 18, who has just registered to vote, receives instructions on the use of a voting machine from Franklin County voter registration clerk Cecil Mitchell in Columbus, Ohio, Juy 22, 1971, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo, File)
FILE – Dawn Stephens, right, and Duane Taylor prepare ballots to be mailed at the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections in Charlotte, N.C., Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)
FILE – People walk by an early voting sign on the first day of early voting for the 2024 Presidential General Election, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)
FILE – Voters wait in line to fill out a ballot on the last day of early absentee voting before tomorrow’s general election at the Northwest Activities Center in Detroit, Monday, Nov. 2, 2020. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)
FILE – A voter enters a polling site for the presidential primary election at the town office, Tuesday evening, March 5, 2024, in Elmore, Vt. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)
FILE – John and Colleen Kramer, of Stockton, Mo., vote at the Caplinger Mills Trading Post on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016, in Caplinger Mills, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)
FILE – Processed mail-in ballots are seen at the Bucks County Board of Elections office prior to the primary election in Doylestown, Pa., May 27, 2020. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)
FILE – A man tallies the votes from the five ballots cast just after midnight, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in Dixville Notch, N.H. (AP Photo/Scott Eisen, File)
FILE – A county worker collects a mail-in ballots in a drive-thru mail-in ballot drop off area at the Clark County Election Department, Monday, Nov. 2, 2020, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)
FILE – A voter fills out their Ohio primary election ballot at a polling location in Knox Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati, Ohio, on Tuesday, March 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
FILE “- I Voted Early” stickers sit in a bucket by the ballot box at the City of Minneapolis early voting center, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Adam Bettcher, File)
FILE – Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Jen Easterly speaks to The Associated Press in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)
FILE – Director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Jen Easterly speaks to The Associated Press in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)
FILE – People wait to vote in-person at Reed High School in Sparks, Nev., prior to polls closing on Nov. 3, 2020. (AP Photo/Scott Sonner, File)
FILE – A poll worker talks to a voter before they vote on a paper ballot on Election Day in Atlanta on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)
FILE – A voter moves to cast her ballot at an electronic counting machine at a polling site at the Brooklyn Museum, Nov. 8, 2022, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. ( AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
FILE – Votes are tallied during a manual recount of ballots in the City Council District 5 race between incumbent Mykey Arthrell and challenger Grant Miller, Nov. 17, 2022, in Tulsa, Okla. (Mike Simons/Tulsa World via AP, File)
FILE – Buu Nygren announces his win for the Navajo Nation president as he reads tabulated votes from chapter houses across the reservation at his campaign’s watch party at the Navajo Nation fairgrounds in Window Rock, Ariz., on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022. (AP Photo/William C. Weaver IV, File)
FILE – A person drops off their vote-by-mail ballot at a dropbox in Pioneer Square during primary voting on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)
Mary Nelson, of Mead, Wash., near Spokane, Wash., poses for a photo at her home on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. Nelson is holding a printout of a radio station website news story that says she is thought to be the last person in the U.S. to cast a vote in the 2012 presidential election when she voted for Mitt Romney just before the polls closed in the remote village of Adak, Alaska. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
FILE – Voting machines fill the floor for early voting at State Farm Arena, Oct. 12, 2020, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)
FILE – Mildred James of Sanders, Ariz., shows off her “I Voted” sticker as she waits for results of the Navajo Nation presidential primary election to be revealed in Window Rock, Ariz., Aug. 28, 2018. (AP Photo/Cayla Nimmo, File)
Voters leave Surprise City Hall after voting on the first day of early in-person voting for the general election, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024, in Surprise, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
A voter leaves Surprise City Hall after voting on the first day of early in-person voting for the general election Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024, in Surprise, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Voters get registered for in-person absentee voting at the City-County Building, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
Voters wait in line for in-person absentee voting at the City-County Building, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
Campaign signs are posted outside of the Franklin County Board of Elections in Columbus, Ohio, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)
at the Franklin County Board of Elections in Columbus, Ohio, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)
Voters cast their ballots during the first day of in person early voting at the Franklin County Board of Elections in Columbus, Ohio, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)
Poll workers wait to escort voters to the polling booths during the first day of in person early voting at the Franklin County Board of Elections in Columbus, Ohio, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)
Poll worker Susan Henry directs voters to check in for the first day of in person early voting at the Franklin County Board of Elections in Columbus, Ohio, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)
Voters enter the early voting center for the first day of in person early voting at the Franklin County Board of Elections in Columbus, Ohio, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)
FILE – Senate pages carry boxes containing Electoral College votes into a joint session of the House and Senate convenes to count the electoral votes cast in November’s election, at the Capitol, Wednesday, Jan 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
FILE – Vice President Mike Pence and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., officiate as a joint session of the House and Senate convenes to count the Electoral College votes cast in the presidential election, at the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 6, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
FILE – The certification of Electoral College votes for the state of Arizona is unsealed during a joint session of the House and Senate convenes to confirm the electoral votes cast in November’s election, at the Capitol, Jan 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
FILE – Boxes containing Electoral College votes are opened as a joint session of the House and Senate convenes to confirm the electoral votes cast in November’s election, at the Capitol, Jan 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
FILE – Staff members hold the certification of Electoral College votes from Tennessee during a joint session of the House and Senate to confirm Electoral College votes at the Capitol, early Jan 7, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
FILE – Vice President Mike Pence hands the electoral certificate from the state of Arizona to Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., as he presides over a joint session of Congress as it convenes to count the Electoral College votes cast in November’s election, at the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 6, 2021. (Saul Loeb/Pool via AP, File)
FILE – Democratic party observer Rachel May Zysk, right, looks on a volunteers check under and over votes during an elections manual recount for three undecided races Friday, Nov. 16, 2018, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara, File)
FILE – Recount observers watch ballots during a Milwaukee hand recount of Presidential votes at the Wisconsin Center, Nov. 20, 2020, in Milwaukee, Wis. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)
FILE – Votes are tallied during a manual recount of ballots in the City Council District 5 race between incumbent Mykey Arthrell and challenger Grant Miller, Nov. 17, 2022, in Tulsa, Okla. (Mike Simons/Tulsa World via AP, File)
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FILE – Ballot boxes are brought in to for a ranked choice voting tabulation in Augusta, Maine, Nov. 12, 2018. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)
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Read on for more about Election Day 2024:
U.S. electionsWhat are the top races?
Here are the top 25 must-know people, places, races, dates and more. Consider it a guidebook, of sorts, to American democracy as it nears its 250th birthday.
FULL STORY: Elections 2024: Top 25 must-know people, races, dates and more
How reliable are U.S. elections?
Glitches have occurred throughout the history of U.S. elections. Yet election workers across America have consistently pulled off presidential elections and accurately tallied the results — and there’s no reason to believe this year will be any different.
FULL STORY: Not everything will run perfectly on Election Day. Still, US elections are remarkably reliable
How can I keep track of results?
Election night is a bit like a jigsaw puzzle, except that only one piece appears at a time, and you don’t get to look at the picture on the box. As thousands of counties and towns report vote totals, it can be hard to figure out when the results reported so far will reflect the outcome. Past elections can provide a guide.
FULL STORY: Want to follow election results like a pro? Here’s what to watch in key states
Why do some states’ elections take longer?
The Constitution sets out broad principles for electing a national government and leaves the details to the states. The choices made by state lawmakers and election officials as they sort out those details affect everything from how voters cast a ballot, how quickly the tabulation and release of results takes place, how elections are kept secure and how officials maintain voters’ confidence in the process.
FULL STORY: Florida has nearly all ballots counted on Election Day, while California can take weeks. This is why
Which election forecasters are most accurate?
It may be no surprise that people seek certainty before elections happen, given what they see as the stakes: One recent poll found that about 7 in 10 Americans believe that the future of democracy is at stake in this year’s presidential election. Yet often the forecasters themselves are the first to push back on the characterization that they can tell you what’s going to happen.
FULL STORY: How elections forecasters became political ‘prophets’
Voters and votingWho can vote?
If you want to cast a ballot on Election Day or vote by mail, it helps to know the rules.
FULL STORY: Who can vote in US elections, and what steps must you take to do so?
How does early voting work?
Voting before Election Day is much more common today than it was roughly 50 years ago. Yet it is highly politicized as voting in the 2024 presidential election is already underway.
FULL STORY: How voting before Election Day became so widespread and so political
What are the key battleground states?
In a closely contested presidential election, as many expect 2024 to be, the results in a few bellwether counties in the key battleground states are likely to decide the outcome, just as they did in the past two general elections. Here’s a look at those that might matter the most on Election Day:
FULL STORY: Where are the voters who could decide the presidential election?
Why do states run voting differently?
The U.S. general election on Nov. 5 will decide the country’s direction, but it is far from a nationally administered contest. The 50 states and the District of Columbia run their own elections, and each does things a little differently.
FULL STORY: Not all elections look the same. Here are some of the different ways states run their voting
How does ranked choice voting work?
An uncommon system of voting could be central to which party controls the U.S. House this fall — or even the presidency. In Maine and Alaska, voters in competitive congressional districts will elect a winner using ranked choice voting. Here’s how it works:
FULL STORY: Ranked choice voting could decide which party controls the US House. How does it work?
Election securityHow often does voter fraud happen?
Voter fraud does happen occasionally. When it does, we tend to hear a lot about it. It also gets caught and prosecuted. The nation’s multilayered election processes provide many safeguards that keep voter fraud generally detectable and rare, according to current and former election administrators of both parties.
FULL STORY: Yes, voter fraud happens. But it’s rare and election offices have safeguards to catch it
Are voting systems safe?
Election officials rely on various pieces of technology. Every office does things a little bit differently. In November’s presidential election, nearly every ballot cast will have a paper record that can be used to obtain an accurate count even if there are errors or cyberattacks.
FULL STORY: Voting systems have been under attack since 2020, but are tested regularly for accuracy and security
Will votes be hand counted?
Controversies over hand counting have flared periodically in pockets of the country before the 2024 presidential election, even though research has shown that it is more prone to error, costlier and likely to delay results.
FULL STORY: Election conspiracy theories fueled a push to hand-count votes, but doing so is risky and slow
Can I watch the election process?
Feeds and live videos streaming from election sites across the country are an effort by election officials to demystify voting and provide greater transparency to a process that in recent years has been subject to intense scrutiny, misinformation and false claims of widespread fraud.
FULL STORY: On a screen near you: Officials are livestreaming the election process for more transparency
How do legal election disputes work?
America’s court system has no formal role in the election process, and judges generally try not to get involved because they don’t want to be seen as interfering or shaping a partisan outcome, said Paul Schiff Berman, a professor at George Washington University Law School. But election disputes have increasingly landed in court since Bush v. Gore, Berman said.
FULL STORY: Courts could see wave of election lawsuits, but experts say bar to change outcome is high
Polls and surveysCan poll predict the presidential race?
The presidential race is competitive. That’s about as much as the national polls can tell us right now, even if it looks like Democrat Kamala Harris is down in one poll or Republican Donald Trump is up in another.
FULL STORY: Will the polls be right in 2024? What polling on the presidential race can and can’t tell you
Do polls represent me?
Chances are, you have never been contacted for an election poll. But the dozens of high-quality election polls that will be released before Election Day represent a reasonable estimate of the opinions of all Americans.
FULL STORY: How a poll can represent your opinion even if you weren’t contacted for it
After the voteHow does the Electoral College work?
The Electoral College is the unique American system of electing presidents. It is different from the popular vote, and it has an outsize impact on how candidates run and win campaigns.
FULL STORY: What is the Electoral College and how does the US use it to elect presidents?
Why does the media call elections?
It’s election night, the polls have closed and chances are you’re waiting on one of the major television networks to say who will be the next president. But why does the news media play that role in the first place? Shouldn’t that be the government’s job? Here’s a brief history:
FULL STORY: News media don’t run elections. Why do they call the winners?
What is election certification?
For the outcome of this year’s presidential race, it will be the vote count on election night and possibly in the days after that will grab the public’s attention. But those numbers are unofficial until the election is formally certified — a once uneventful process that has become politicized since then-President Trump tried to overturn his reelection loss four years ago.
FULL STORY: Election certification is a traditionally routine duty that has become politicized in the Trump era
When do recounts change election winners?
With the American electorate so evenly divided, there will be elections in November close enough that officials will have to recount the votes. Just don’t expect those recounts to change the winner. They rarely do, even when the margins are tiny.
FULL STORY: Don’t count on a recount to change the winner in close elections this fall. They rarely do
Read more about how U.S. elections work at Explaining Election 2024, a series from The Associated Press aimed at helping make sense of the American democracy. The AP receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP’s democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Originally Published: October 14, 2024 at 2:33 p.m.
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