U.S. Election Explainers
Key Election Dates
ELECTION DAY
November 5, 2024
(first Tuesday after the first Monday in November)
During the general election voters determine your state’s electors. When voters cast a ballot for a Presidential candidate, they aren't actually voting for President. They are telling their State which candidate they want their State to vote for at the meeting of the electors.
The States use these general election results (also known as the popular vote) to appoint their electors. The winning candidate's State political party selects the individuals who will be the electors.
States Issue Certificates of Ascertainment
By December 11, 2024
(at least six days before the meeting of the electors)
Local and state election officials must certify vote totals prior to December 11. This means all election disputes, including allegations of fraud, must be resolved by the courts.
Based on the certified vote, a state’s governor prepares seven Certificates of Ascertainment and sends one of those original Certificates of Ascertainment to the Archivist.
Electors Vote In Their States
December 17, 2024
The electors meet in their respective States and vote for President and Vice President on separate ballots. The electors record their votes on six Certificates of Vote, which are paired with the six remaining Certificates of Ascertainment.
The electors sign, seal up, and certify six sets of electoral votes. A set of electoral votes consists of one Certificate of Ascertainment and one Certificate of Vote.
Electoral Votes Arrive
December 25, 2024
Electoral votes must be received by the President of the Senate and the Archivist no later than the fourth Wednesday in December. If votes are lost or delayed, the Archivist may take extraordinary measures to retrieve duplicate originals.
Archivist Transfers Certificates To Congress
On or before January 3, 2025
As the new Congress assembles, the Archivist transmits sets of Certificates to Congress, as requested.
Congress Counts The Electoral Votes
January 6, 2025
Congress meets in joint session to count the electoral votes. The Vice President, as President of the Senate, presides over the count and announces the results of the Electoral College vote. The President of the Senate then declares which persons, if any, have been elected President and Vice President of the United States.
Inauguration Day
January 20, 2025 at Noon
The President-elect and Vice President-elect take the Oath of Office and become the President of the United States and Vice President of the United States, respectively.
For more information see the National Archives.
Early Voting in Swing States began September 16
In 2020, in response to the Covid pandemic, states provided more options for early voting, including in-person early voting, vote by mail and absentee voting.
With these increased options, we saw the highest turnout of eligible voters in over 100 years. Nearly 70% of votes were cast before Election Day, compared to 40% in 2016:
Seniors (78%), voters with college or graduate degrees (74%) and women (71%) were most likely to vote prior to Election Day.
According to the Pew post-election poll, voters who voted by mail or absentee ballot supported Biden (65%/33%). Election Day voters gave Trump the same margin (65%/33%).
Trump won early in-person voters by 5%.
While early voting may not reach 2020 levels, it is expected to play a significant role in the 2024 campaign — and is likely to be a source of controversy. Since the 2020 election, many states controlled by Republicans have tightened restrictions on early voting while states controlled by Democrats have made early voting more broadly available.
Early voting in swing states had begun:
September 16 - Pennsylvania
October 15 - Georgia
October 17 - North Carolina
October 19 - Arizona & Nevada
October 22 - Wisconsin
October 26 - Michigan
Additional early voting data is available through the University of Florida Election Lab.
Swing States: Ballot Access / Voting Restrictions
The options available to voters for how to cast their ballots will have a significant impact on the outcome of the 2024 election.
In the battleground states where the election will be decided, there will be more voting restrictions in Georgia, North Carolina and Wisconsin. It will be easier to vote in Michigan and Nevada.
Voting laws in Arizona and Pennsylvania will be largely the same as in 2020.
Arizona - Though the state was the epicenter of election-related conspiracy theories, there have been no meaningful changes in voting procedures.
Georgia - Republicans are in full control of the state and have imposed many new restrictions regarding mail-in ballots and when/where drop boxes are available, and it will also be easier to challenge cast ballots.
Michigan - A 2022 ballot initiative approved by voters expanded access to early in-person voting and voting by mail. There has also been an increase in drop boxes for absentee ballots.
Nevada - The state permanently expanded mail voting access with mail ballots now sent to all voters. There is at least one drop box per county, and third parties are allowed to collect ballots from voters.
North Carolina - With a veto-proof majority in the state legislature, Republicans have implemented additional requirements and restrictions on voting, including the strictest voter ID law in the country, new absentee deadlines, more authority for partisan poll observers and easing rules to challenge ballots.
Pennsylvania - The state’s changes are mixed. There are new provisions for mail-in ballots to qualify to be counted. However, Governor Shapiro did make it easier to vote by automatically registering people to vote when they renew their driver’s license.
Wisconsin - The Wisconsin Supreme Court reversed an earlier decision imposing a near total ban on drop boxes. The new decision allows municipal clerks to use drop boxes but does not require them.
Vote Certification
Historically considered a "ministerial" duty, vote certification has become a central battleground in U.S. elections.
In some states, local and state election officials have become political advocates, creating new rules to make it easier to advance allegations of fraud – and harder to resolve them.
An investigation by Rolling Stone identified at least 70 Trump supporters currently working as county election officials who have “questioned the validity of elections or delayed or refused to certify results” in the swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
By refusing to certify election results, local election officials could delay a state from reporting their results, disrupting the election and undermining confidence in the outcome.
Georgia is shaping up to be the epicenter of the certification fight. The Georgia State Election Board recently passed two new rules that could delay and even prevent vote certification.
The “reasonable inquiry rule” states that a county board can only certify an election “after reasonable inquiry that the tabulation and canvassing of the election are complete and accurate and that the results are a true and accurate accounting of all votes cast in that election.”
The “examination rule” allows individual county election board members to “examine all election related documentation created during the conduct of elections prior to certification of results.”
Historically, members of county election boards have not been tasked with resolving election issues. Certification has been mandatory, not discretionary. Disputes over ballot issues have been separate from the certification process – they have been investigated and adjudicated by district attorneys, state election boards, and in court.
The Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Party of Georgia have sued to block implementation of these rules, which they claim could lead to “chaos” around election results.
Across the country, election results will have to be certified in more than 3,000 counties, and all state results must be final by the time electors meet in each state on December 17. The possibility of disruption is high.