In a matter of weeks, it will be Election Day, the day when people across the United States not just vote for who they believe should be president for the next four years, but also those running for Senate, House of Representatives, governor and other races specific to the state they reside in.
Now, whether you’re a seasoned voter or this is your first time, it can be just as exciting as it is nerve-racking to participate in Election Day. Not only are you looking up information on who to vote for, but you’re also checking to see if you’re even able to vote, where to vote, etc.
Well, we’re here to help with that and more. Below, you’ll find links to help you figure out if you’re a registered voter; how, when and where to vote; who to vote for; and, of course, what happens to your vote after you’ve turned it in.
Here’s a primer on voting for the 2024 presidential election.
How And Where To Vote
In-Person Voting
You can go visit this site to find locations near you where you can vote in person.
Early Voting
You can visit this site to find out if the state you live in offers early voting.
Voting By Mail And Absentee Voting
You may live in a state where you can mail in a vote. You can find that information out here.
To return a mail ballot you have two options: by mail (some states and territories offer prepaid return envelopes with their ballots, while others require you to add postage to your envelope before putting it in the mail) and by a drop box/in person (you don’t need a stamp if you take your ballot to a local election office or an official ballot drop box). Visit this site to find a drop box close to you.
When To Vote
You’ll either vote on Election Day — Tuesday, November 5 — or can possibly do early voting if your state allows it. Refer to the links above for both.
Do I Need To Bring Some Form Of Identification To Vote At The Polls
Depending on where you live, you may or may not have to bring identification to vote. Visit this site to find out more.
How to Find Out Whether I’m Registered To Vote
You can visit this site to find out your voter registration status. If you’re not registered to vote, you can visit this site to see how to register in the state you live in. If you’re curious about whether you need to re-register or change your registration, as well as why you should look up your voter registration information, you can visit this site for more details.
How to Get Nonpartisan Information About the Candidates
This is a task you ultimately need to take ownership of yourself. Read information about their policies from the candidates’ campaign sites as well as news coverage about them from a variety of sites. Besides that, you can visit this site to find a voter guide based on where you live or visit this site to find an election site near you where you can pick up a sample ballot.
The difference between a voter guide and sample ballot is that the former provides both information on candidates and ballot measures, while the latter solely provides the elections, candidates and any ballot measures that will be on your real ballot, according to usa.gov.
What Happens After I Vote?
After ballots are cast, local and state election officials and canvassing boards count and report votes, as well as certify results (among other things).
What Is The Electoral College and How Does It Come Into Play?
The Electoral College decides who will be president and vice president of the United States. It consists of 538 electors who cast their votes. A presidential candidate must receive a majority of the votes (270) to win. You can visit this site to see how many electoral votes each state gets. Each state gets at least three electoral votes, while others (California, Texas, New York, Florida) get much more because of their populations.
How Does My Vote Factor Into the Electoral College?
Here’s where your vote factors into all of this: Most states (48, exactly, along with Washington, D.C.,) award their electoral votes to the candidate that receives the most votes statewide. Certain states are usually consistent in their party choice, with states like California and New York voting Democrat while others like Texas and Missouri tend to be Republican. The states that always play a more integral role in the election are battleground or swing states — those that could be won by either a Democratic or Republican candidate. For certain years, those states have been ones like Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan. This year, it’s those, as well as ones like Nevada and Arizona, according to The New York Times.
Your vote is considered a part of the “popular vote.” There have only been five times in U.S. history where the candidate who won the popular vote didn’t win the electoral vote, with the last one being Hillary Clinton against Donald Trump for the 2016 presidential election. That’s because, although Clinton did well in Democratic-leaning states she was expected to win (California and New York, for example), Trump won battleground states like Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan, as well as a majority of other states.
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