As for the actual election part, it's complicated. Who is eligible to vote? What are the rules? And who actually does vote? Let's break it down, and I'll start by looking at an election [music] through the eyes of two voters. Take Jim. He was registered to vote at the DMV when he got his driver's license [music] and cast a ballot in person weeks before election day without showing a photo ID. [music] And then, there's Jenna. She registered in person at her Board of Elections and had to present her government-issued ID. But on Election Day, she works, so she voted by mail with no ID needed. Then, there's Huck. He's four. He can't vote until he turns 18, so I'll update you on him in 14 years [music].

Both Jenna and Jim are voting in the same presidential election, but under different rules, and both are following the law. How can the rules for the same election be so different? Because the United States does not have one centrally administered election [music] system. Elections are run by the states, and it turns out no two states run elections [music] the exact same way. And it's all carried out by around 6,500 [music] local election jurisdictions operating under state and local laws, while also operating within [music] a federal legal framework. Why is it that way? It all comes back to the Constitution. Article 1, Section 4, Clause 1, known as the Elections Clause.

The times, places, and manners holding elections for senators and representatives shall be prescribed in each state [music] by the legislature thereof. It also goes on to say that Congress can make or alter the rules. In other words, elections are locally administered, state directed, and federally constrained. Over time, the rules have changed because the Constitution changed or Congress passed laws that changed things. The 15th Amendment, ratified in 1870, prohibited discrimination based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude, that is, slavery. That didn't solve the challenge, but it was an important start. The 19th Amendment, ratified in 1920, prohibited denying or abridging voting rights on account of sex. In 1965, the Voting Rights Act passed Congress, outlawing major discriminatory practices and authorizing strong federal enforcement. The 26th Amendment lowered the voting age from 21 to 18 in 1971. The National Voter Registration Act expanded registration opportunities and required states to identify a chief election official. The Help America Vote Act established requirements for voting systems, statewide registration databases, provisional ballots, and election administration. That's the federal framework.

Now, let's look at how states do things differently, starting with how someone becomes a voter. Every state requires a voter to register except North Dakota, which has no voter registration. In US federal elections, those who cannot legally register and vote include non-US citizens, including undocumented immigrants, green card holders, and people here on visas, people under 18, [music] although some states allow 17-year-olds to vote in a primary if they will be 18 by the general election, some people adjudicated as mentally incompetent, people who don't satisfy their state's eligibility requirements, such as residency rules, people currently incarcerated with felony convictions [music], although Vermont and Maine and Washington D.C. allow them to vote.

If you are eligible, how do you actually register? 42 states and Washington D.C. [music] allow eligible voters to register online. Seven states do not offer fully online registration. In those states, eligible voters must submit a paper application or register in person. Every state is required to offer voter registration at the DMV, most commonly when someone gets or renews a driver's license, like Jim. Nice ride. About half go further with automatic registration. You're signed up as part of your usual DMV business unless you opt out. In the rest, the clerk will generally ask if you want to register if they see that you are eligible. In 2024, nearly 1/3, 32.2%of all voter registration transactions [music], including new registrations and updates, took place through motor vehicle agencies. Another 26.4%were automatic registrations.

Registration deadlines vary, too. Some states let you register on election day, others close weeks ahead. So, now you're registered to vote. First up, primaries, [music] and there are big differences. Each individual state regulates their primaries or caucuses, while political parties still control candidate qualifications, conventions [music], and presidential delegates. These states have closed primaries, limiting participation to voters registered [music] with that party. These states use open primaries. Any registered voter can vote in any party primary. These states operate somewhere in between. For example, only registered independents get to choose which primary to vote in. California and Washington use top-two primaries for certain [music] offices. Every voter can choose among all candidates, and the two with the most votes advance, regardless of party.

These systems do not apply to presidential primaries. Alaska uses the top-four primary, [music] sending the top-four primary candidates to the general election. Maine uses ranked-choice voting, where voters rank their choices in statewide primaries and general elections for federal offices. Some local elections use it, too. So, voters in different states may choose candidates under different rules before the general election. Differences though, don't end there. How people vote differs too. These eight states and Washington D.C. conduct elections primarily by mail, automatically [music] sending voters a ballot. Everywhere else, you have to request a mail ballot, an [music] absentee ballot. These states offer no excuse absentee voting. You can request a ballot without giving a reason. These states require a reason [music], such as illness, disability, age, work, or travel. Most people vote in person though, and every state offers it, even the vote by mail states. Most also let you vote in person early. [music] Only Alabama, Mississippi, and New Hampshire do not.

So, a lot of options. How people use them has changed. Election day voting fell from roughly 79%in 2004 to 40%in 2024, the most [music] recent numbers. Mail voting has gone from 13%to 29%. But there was a big surge during COVID, from 26%in 2018 to 43%in 2020. This was due in part to nearly all states [music] allowing no excuse absentee voting during the pandemic. Early in-person voting reached a new high of about 31%in 2024, up from 8%in 2004, as more and more states expanded the early voting time frame [music]. I'm going to talk about how mail-in ballots are counted later, so stay tuned. And if you vote in person, what form of ID do you need to bring? Again [music], it depends on the state. 24 states require voters to show a photo ID every time they vote. 12 require identification, but accept non-photo documents [music], such as utility bills or bank statements. 14 states and Washington D.C. do not require any ID document at the polls.

However, [music] under federal law, first-time voters in any state who register by mail must show identification when they vote unless their identity was verified during registration. We've talked about who can vote and how to vote. Now, let's look at [music] who actually does. In 2024, 73.6%of eligible citizens were registered, the highest percentage in the data going back to 2000. But registration is not turnout, and turnout moves a lot. Presidential elections first. Since 2000, turnout ranged from a low of 59.4 [music]%in 2000 to a high of 66.8% in 2020 [music]. Now, look at midterms. Turnout dropped to 41.9%in 2014. Four years later, it jumped to 53.4%, [music] the highest midterm turnout in the data. That is an 11.5 percentage point swing in one election [music] cycle. [snorts] Age is one of the clearest dividing lines.

Across [music] the last five presidential elections, 18-to 24-year-olds consistently had the lowest turnout, while 65-to 74-year-olds consistently had the highest. But young voters increased dramatically at times [music]. From the 2014 to the 2018 midterms, turnout among 18-to 24-year-olds nearly doubled from 17%to 32%. Turnout also varies by [music] race. White non-Hispanic voters had the highest turnout in five of the last six presidential elections. The exception, 2012, when black voter turnout reached 66.2 [music]%, the highest of any group that year. And then, there's geography [music]. In the 2024 presidential election, turnout ranged from 52.8%in Arkansas to 79.5 [music]%in Washington D.C., a gap of nearly 27 percentage points. Same election, same country, [music] very different participation.

Okay, so you registered, you voted, and now who won? On election night, you'll see results online or on TV, but in many cases, this will not include mail-in ballots. And a lot [music] of folks vote by mail. I'm proof of that. Mail is a big reason results can take time. First, did the ballots arrive on time? And what does on time [music] actually mean? 15 states and Washington, D.C., [music] accept mail ballots as long as they were postmarked by election day. 34 states require ballots to be received [music] by election day. And one, Louisiana, needs to get it the day before. That's the first hurdle. Election officials also compare the signature on the envelope to the one in the voter's registration file. They need to match. 11 states require a witness signature or notarized one. So, if that is missing, the ballot is not yet counted.

But, before a mail-in ballot is totally rejected, most states reach out to the voter to start a verification process [music]. In 2024, out of nearly 48 million mail-in ballots received, 1.2%were rejected [music], and just over half of those rejected because of the signature problem. I'm not going to dwell long on the machines used for voting. Just this. In 2024, all but one of the election [music] jurisdictions used voting equipment that produces a paper ballot or paper records, creating a clear paper trail. In addition to mail-in ballots, there also provisional ballots. These are votes that were cast, but for a host of reasons, need to be verified before being counted. For example, a voter's name is not on the registration list, their name changed, or they live in a state with an ID requirement, but forgot their ID at home. [music] In 2024, voters cast 1.7 million provisional ballots. 74%were counted [music], and 25%were rejected.

The last step is certification. A designated official attests that the count is complete and accurate, then sends the results to the Secretary of State or Board of Elections for final sign-off. How fast depends on state law. Most states require counties to [music] finish within two weeks. California and West Virginia are the longest at 30 days. And finally, sometimes a race is so close that there's an automatic recount [music]. 26 states and Washington D.C. have a threshold, in most cases with the margin of 0.5%or less [music]. 41 states and D.C. permit a losing candidate or voter to request or petition for recount [music]. In these three states, a recount must be court-ordered. Elections can be spirited affairs. But in the end, it is a tie that binds. We're one of the oldest modern democracies, and to keep it, people need to vote. That is the system from 1787, and the basics have not changed. States run elections, the federal government sets the ground rules. And if USAFacts has one message out of this video, it's this: Register and vote. It's our democracy, and it's up to all of us to keep it. Hey, thanks for watching this episode of Just the Facts. To learn more, make sure you subscribe to our channel here on YouTube. And to get weekly facts delivered straight to your inbox, visit our website usafacts.org and sign up for our newsletter. See you next time.