What you need to know on Election Day — and what happens after

Originally published by The 19th. Written by Barbara Rodriguez, Terri Rupar.

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Election Day is November 5, but Americans have been weighing in on the presidential election and races up and down the ballot for weeks.

That’s because most states offer some form of early voting, either in person or by mail, and eligible voters are taking advantage. Officials in some battleground states have reported record turnout. According to the University of Florida Election Lab, more than 83 million people voted early.

Election officials — a workforce made up mostly of women — have been preparing for months and even years to administer the 2024 election. That includes updating protocols, offering more public outreach on how elections are administered and adding safety measures.

Here’s what you need to know about casting your ballot and what to expect after polls close.

What do I need to know to cast a ballot?

Every state has a different set of laws and rules outlining how and when residents can vote.

• Are you registered to vote and is your home address up-to-date? Some states allow people to register to vote up through Election Day; in others, deadlines have passed. If you’re not sure, check the deadlines in your state.
• If you’re voting by mail, the deadline for requesting a ballot has passed. If you haven’t already mailed back your completed ballot, officials recommend you return it in person at your local election office or a drop box if available. Here are your state-specific options.
• If you’re voting in person, do you know where your polling place is located? It may have moved since the last election.
• Do you need identification to vote?
• Are you prepared to wait several hours in line if there is high voter turnout?

States have election-related websites, often through the secretary of state’s office, with information on what eligible voters need to know.

How will I know if my vote was counted?

If you voted early, most states allow you to track your ballot. Some states will also notify voters if there is an error on their ballot, giving them time to fix or “cure” their ballots.

What are my rights on Election Day?

Voting advocacy organizations recommend that eligible voters know their legal rights when casting a ballot.

• If you’re in line to vote on Election Day and the polls close, stay in line. You still have a right to cast a ballot.
• If you make a mistake while filling out your ballot, you can request a new one.
• If a voting machine is down when you’re preparing to cast a ballot, you can request a paper ballot.
• There are several scenarios where you might request a provisional ballot.
• If you face a problem or have a question, call the national, nonpartisan Election Protection at their hotline (1-866-OUR-VOTE / 1-866-687-8683).

When will we know the results of the presidential election?

We’re not sure! In 2020, it took a few days for the presidential election to be called; most major news outlets projected Democrat Joe Biden as the winner on the Saturday after Election Day.

While we’re likely to know a lot about the election, including who won many key House and Senate races, we may have to again wait a while to know who won the presidency.

A few factors may play a role in the timing of race calls:

• If a race is close, more votes must be counted to determine a winner. Sometimes that includes provisional ballots — which voters fill out if there is a problem with their registration on Election Day — and that can add more time. In 2020, the presidential election was decided by fewer than 12,000 votes in both Georgia and Arizona.
• States have different rules for when they can process ballots. In Pennsylvania, for example, state law requires election officials to wait until 7 a.m. on Election Day to begin processing mail-in ballots. In 2020, that meant election officials were counting mail-in ballots for days. In Arizona, early ballots are counted when they’re received. No results are released until after polls close.
• States also have different deadlines for mail-in ballots. In some states, the deadline to receive mail-in ballots is Election Day, while in others, those ballots just have to be postmarked by Election Day.

The fact that states have different rules and deadlines for administering elections — which can mean election results are released at different times on election night and afterward — is not a sign of voter suppression or fraud.

How do we know who won?

There is no nationwide entity that collects and releases election results in America. But many media outlets gather data on vote counts and project the winners of elections. Teams of journalists use election results data as it comes in as well as information from past elections to project who won a given election. Not all ballots need to be counted or even received for these projections to be made.

The 19th is relying on Decision Desk HQ to project the winners of this year’s elections. Decision Desk says it considers a number of factors in making calls, including how much of the vote has yet to be counted, where votes are coming from, and what types of votes (absentee, early, day of) are being reported.

Major media networks have their own teams that project winners. Many news outlets also rely on the Associated Press, which outlined its race-calling process here.

Even after a major media network projects a winner, election officials continue to count ballots in a process that can take days or weeks. Additional election officials, often in some local or county capacity, then certify those results.

What should we watch out for on election night?

Voting experts say they expect former President Donald Trump — who has not committed to fully accepting the results of the election — to claim on election night that he won the presidency even if not enough ballots have been counted to project a winner. He has already begun laying groundwork to scapegoat undocumented immigrants.

Trump’s messaging could circulate in a political climate where election deniers have spread unfounded conspiracy theories about widespread voter fraud.

Here’s what to keep in mind:

• Expect some election officials to face issues at polling locations. Sometimes lines are long because voter turnout outpaces poll worker staffing. Sometimes, officials run out of ballots or there are technical issues with voting equipment. Voters might be given extra time to vote as a result.
• Expect election deniers to spread conspiracy theories on social media platforms, with less oversight by social media companies to stop it. That could include speculation about why a state that was favoring one party in the early vote count now favors another. But that’s not suspicious: Votes from different parts of the state may be counted at different times or rates. All votes that are being counted were cast before polls closed.

Pay attention to your local election office and what they share publicly about incoming results and other information. They may in some cases debunk misinformation (incorrect information spread by someone who doesn’t know it isn’t true) or disinformation (incorrect information deliberately spread by someone who wants to cause harm). And check other reputable sources for additional information about elections nationwide.

What happens after Election Day?

That depends on who wins. After the 2020 election, Trump and his allies filed more than 60 lawsuits to challenge his loss. All but one failed. That election was deemed the most secure in American history.

If Trump loses, he and his allies appear ready to turn to the courts again. They have already filed several lawsuits that raise unfounded claims about widespread voter fraud and challenge the eligibility of certain voters. Voting experts expect some of that litigation to continue, and for additional lawsuits to be filed.

Election officials say they’re in communication with law enforcement to respond to safety issues that may arise during election week, including instances of political violence.

There are several key dates to follow after Election Day:

• No later than December 11: Deadline for states to resolve disputes about the election results.
• December 17: Electors meet to cast their votes for president and vice president.
• January 6, 2025: Members of the new U.S. Congress count the Electoral College votes.

To check your voter registration status or to get more information about registering to vote, text 19thnews to 26797.