People will solid roughly 160 million ballots by the point Election Day involves a detailed — in a number of alternative ways, together with many submitted just a few weeks earlier than polls even open.They are going to select a president, members of Congress and 1000’s of state lawmakers, metropolis council members, attorneys basic, secretaries of state — and in Texas, a railroad commissioner who has nothing to do with the trains.
This yr’s election additionally comes at a second within the nation’s historical past when the very fundamentals of how America votes are being challenged as by no means earlier than by disinformation and mistrust.It may be powerful to make sense of all of it. To assist higher perceive the way in which America picks its president and its leaders — all the way in which down the poll — we’re publishing a collection geared toward helping readers in making sense of the American democracy.
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Learn on for extra about Election Day 2024:
U.S. elections
What are the highest races?
Listed here are the highest 25 must-know individuals, locations, races, dates and extra. Take into account it a guidebook, of types, to American democracy because it nears its 250th birthday.
FULL STORY: Elections 2024: Top 25 must-know people, races, dates and more
How dependable are U.S. elections?
Glitches have occurred all through the historical past of U.S. elections. But election employees throughout America have persistently pulled off presidential elections and precisely tallied the outcomes — and there’s no motive to imagine this yr shall be any totally different.
FULL STORY: Not everything will run perfectly on Election Day. Still, US elections are remarkably reliable
How can I hold observe of outcomes?
Election night time is a bit like a jigsaw puzzle, besides that just one piece seems at a time, and also you don’t get to have a look at the image on the field. As 1000’s of counties and cities report vote totals, it may be laborious to determine when the outcomes reported thus far will replicate the end result. Previous elections can present a information.
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 Structure units out broad ideas for electing a nationwide authorities and leaves the main points to the states. The alternatives made by state lawmakers and election officers as they type out these particulars have an effect on the whole lot from how voters solid a poll, how shortly the tabulation and launch of outcomes takes place, how elections are stored safe and the way officers keep voters’ confidence within the course of.
FULL STORY: Florida has nearly all ballots counted on Election Day, while California can take weeks. This is why
Which election forecasters are most correct?
It might be no shock that folks search certainty earlier than elections occur, given what they see because the stakes: One current ballot discovered that about 7 in 10 People imagine that the way forward for democracy is at stake on this yr’s presidential election. But typically the forecasters themselves are the primary to push again on the characterization that they’ll inform you what’s going to occur.
FULL STORY: How elections forecasters became political ‘prophets’
Voters and voting
Who can vote?
If you wish to solid a poll on Election Day or vote by mail, it helps to know the foundations.
FULL STORY: Who can vote in US elections, and what steps must you take to do so?
How does early voting work?
Voting earlier than Election Day is rather more widespread immediately than it was roughly 50 years in the past. But it’s extremely politicized as voting within the 2024 presidential election is already underway.
FULL STORY: How voting before Election Day became so widespread and so political
What are the important thing battleground states?
In a carefully contested presidential election, as many count on 2024 to be, the ends in just a few bellwether counties in the important thing battleground states are prone to determine the end result, simply as they did previously two basic elections. Right here’s a have a look at people who would possibly matter probably the most on Election Day:
FULL STORY: Where are the voters who could decide the presidential election?
Why do states run voting otherwise?
The U.S. basic election on Nov. 5 will determine the nation’s route, however it’s removed from a nationally administered contest. The 50 states and the District of Columbia run their very own elections, and every does issues a little bit otherwise.
FULL STORY: Not all elections look the same. Here are some of the different ways states run their voting
How does ranked alternative voting work?
An unusual system of voting might be central to which occasion controls the U.S. Home this fall — and even the presidency. In Maine and Alaska, voters in aggressive congressional districts will elect a winner utilizing ranked alternative voting. Right here’s the way it works:
FULL STORY: Ranked choice voting could decide which party controls the US House. How does it work?
Election safety
How typically does voter fraud occur?
Voter fraud does occur sometimes. When it does, we have a tendency to listen to quite a bit about it. It additionally will get caught and prosecuted. The nation’s multilayered election processes present many safeguards that hold voter fraud typically detectable and uncommon, based on present and former election directors of each events.
FULL STORY: Yes, voter fraud happens. But it’s rare and election offices have safeguards to catch it
Are voting programs secure?
Election officers depend on varied items of know-how. Each workplace does issues a little bit bit otherwise. In November’s presidential election, practically each poll solid can have a paper document that can be utilized to acquire an correct rely even when 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 nation earlier than the 2024 presidential election, despite the fact that analysis has proven that it’s extra vulnerable to error, costlier and prone to delay outcomes.
FULL STORY: Election conspiracy theories fueled a push to hand-count votes, but doing so is risky and slow
Can I watch the election course of?
Feeds and dwell movies streaming from election websites throughout the nation are an effort by election officers to demystify voting and supply higher transparency to a course of that in recent times has been topic 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 authorized election disputes work?
America’s court docket system has no formal function within the election course of, and judges typically attempt to not get entangled as a result of they don’t wish to be seen as interfering or shaping a partisan consequence, stated Paul Schiff Berman, a professor at George Washington College Regulation Faculty. However election disputes have more and more landed in court docket since Bush v. Gore, Berman stated.
FULL STORY: Courts could see wave of election lawsuits, but experts say bar to change outcome is high
Polls and surveys
Can ballot predict the presidential race?
The presidential race is aggressive. That’s about as a lot because the nationwide polls can inform us proper now, even when it appears to be like like Democrat Kamala Harris is down in a single ballot or Republican Donald Trump is up in one other.
FULL STORY: Will the polls be right in 2024? What polling on the presidential race can and can’t tell you
Do polls characterize me?
Likelihood is, you have got by no means been contacted for an election ballot. However the dozens of high-quality election polls that shall be launched earlier than Election Day characterize an inexpensive estimate of the opinions of all People.
FULL STORY: How a poll can represent your opinion even if you weren’t contacted for it
After the vote
How does the Electoral Faculty work?
The Electoral Faculty is the distinctive American system of electing presidents. It’s totally different from the favored vote, and it has an outsize affect 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 name elections?
It’s election night time, the polls have closed and chances are high you’re ready on one of many main tv networks to say who would be the subsequent president. However why does the information media play that function within the first place? Shouldn’t that be the federal government’s job? Right here’s a quick historical past:
FULL STORY: News media don’t run elections. Why do they call the winners?
What’s election certification?
For the end result of this yr’s presidential race, it will likely be the vote rely on election night time and presumably within the days after that may seize the general public’s consideration. However these numbers are unofficial till the election is formally licensed — a as soon as uneventful course of that has become politicized since then-President Trump tried to overturn his reelection loss 4 years in the past.
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 citizens so evenly divided, there shall be elections in November shut sufficient that officers should recount the votes. Simply don’t count on these recounts to alter the winner. They not often 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
Learn extra about how U.S. elections work at Explaining Election 2024, a collection from The Related Press geared toward serving to make sense of the American democracy. The AP receives help from a number of personal foundations to reinforce its explanatory protection of elections and democracy. See extra about AP’s democracy initiative here. The AP is solely liable for all content material.
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