Ahead of elections, voting machines undergo logic and accuracy testing to ensure they count ballots correctly and identify errors or fraudulent activity.

A technician bought an old, likely-decommissioned voting machine from 2013 and took it apart to see how a would-be hacker might be able to exploit its vulnerabilities. Get a sense of the needs for secure, up-to-date voting machines with this...

What’s actually at stake when someone casts their vote in a US election? CNN’s “Election 101” podcast series provides ten episodes summarizing some of the basics of democratic elections. The ins and outs of voting are highlighted in 15-minute episodes on voter registration and voting by mail. Additional segments highlight how the electoral system works, how ballots are counted, the Electoral College, why it takes so long to get election results, and more.

Even after a winner is projected, the election is not complete. Between Election Day and Inauguration Day, electors formally cast votes and Congress meets in a joint session to certify the results, following a constitutionally defined timeline.

The USA has seen some crazy elections. Election fraud is vanishingly rare now, but here are the craziest cases of election fraud in U.S. history.

Computational methods are convincing a number of judges that some state district maps are drawn illegally. Here's a simple overview of how it works.

Since 1965, federal oversight has blocked thousands of state-level voting changes—including redistricting plans—by requiring approval for measures that could affect minority representation, a process scaled back by the Supreme Court in 2013.

Presidential pollsters in the US have had some embarrassing failures. Here’s a catalog of those miscalls, from the scholar who literally wrote the book on them.

In this article, Silver weighs the Electoral College's flaws—especially popular-vote inversions—against its advantages, arguing it can limit the effect of surplus votes in heavily one-sided states and encourage broader competition.

Cracking and packing are gerrymandering techniques. Cracking splits opposing voters across districts, diluting their power. Packing concentrates their votes into a few districts, wasting them in overwhelming majorities for one party.

One of the most significant performances of a politician's life is the televised debate, which requires the kind of preparation only an actor would be familiar with. This article dives into some of the recent history around debate prep norms, including how every campaign chooses someone to act like the opponent in mock debates—often to comical effect.

Defenders of the Electoral College argue it preserves federalism, forces candidates to build broad national coalitions, magnifies victory margins to reduce recount disputes, and limits incentives for voter fraud by containing the impact of contested ballots within individual states.

Courts randomly draw prospective jurors from these sources, then mail qualification questionnaires. Those who qualify may be summoned for voir dire, where judges and attorneys question candidates before seating a final jury.

In settling on the rules for how the US elects presidents, the Founding Fathers coalesced around a system built on two inputs: Votes from individual voters, and the accumulation of votes from specially chosen Electors. The latter comprise the US Electoral College, and this Washington Post article explains why it exists, how it works, and how its 538 electors collectively decide presidential elections.

This article explains how the Constitution leaves most rules for choosing electors to the states. Today, parties typically select elector slates through state conventions, rewarding loyal supporters who formally cast votes weeks after Election Day.

The first televised presidential debates of 1960 were seemingly so consequential, candidates opted not to participate in one for 16 years. In the last 60 years, debate format has changed frequently as the political parties and news outlets vie for rules to either protect candidates or increase TV ratings. In this brief video, one expert suggests five interesting innovations to the debate format to make them more informative for the average US voter.

This article breaks down demographic data to show what it means for American elections. According to the latest US Census, the US is growing increasingly diverse. As the population becomes more diverse, so does the electorate.

A presidential candidate is declared the winner once they reach 270 of the Electoral College’s 538 votes. This interactive map from 270 to win shows how winning individual states shifts the path to victory on election night.

The red–blue color scheme used on election night maps emerged in the 20th century as television networks adopted color graphics to make results easier to follow. The association of red with Republicans and blue with Democrats later became standardized.

Studies of the 2020 redistricting cycle show that map-drawing strategies locked in predictable outcomes. The result was fewer competitive races, more incumbents shielded from challengers, and representatives less responsive to broader voter preferences.

Polygraph tests, also known as lie detectors, are better at detecting lies than people, but they still aren't allowed in most courtrooms. That's in part because of mixed signals. For example, spikes in heart rate can be explained by the stress a person feels during interrogation rather than by their own deception. As a result, polygraph tests are prone to false accusations. Results are also unreliable when participants actually believe their lies, examiners have biases, and tricks are employed to help test-takers relax.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 expanded the Department of Justice's power to challenge discriminatory election laws, send federal examiners, and supervise voting changes in areas with histories of voter suppression—although some of these powers have been limited by court rulings since then.

Bad actors are not solely using deepfake technology to manipulate images. They can also manipulate audio for political purposes. In this example, eligible voters are asked to skip the 2024 New Hampshire Democratic primary.

Presidential debates in the US are highly-touted events viewed as the capstone of a campaign, but their impact on the overall polling is often undetectable. Nonetheless, the televised events can be really entertaining as candidates sweat under the pressure of a live mass audience, and most morning after news round-ups contain some of the event's notable—or cringey—moments. Here's a quick, three-minute video of highlights of some of the more fascinating moments from US primaries.

Voter turnout reached 66% in 2020—the highest since 1908—and 64% in 2024, tied for second-highest with 1960. In 2024, Trump benefited from higher turnout among his prior voters and new voters.

US presidential elections are not “majority rules” contests. A complex mechanism underpins them, guided by the Electoral College system established by the Constitution. This US government website offers an overview of that system, which apportions “electors” for each state and requires winning presidential candidates to secure at least 270 Electoral votes on election night.

Ever wonder how much of each group make up the American voting bloc? Find raw data from the '16 and '18 elections broken out by a variety of factors (click on "validated voters database" link).

Thirty-six states are holding gubernatorial races this November. Here's a breakdown of which states are holding elections, who is running, and which way the race is leaning.