In 32 states, some voters, mostly overseas and military voters, can return their ballots by email, fax, or an online portal. Astronauts on the International Space Station have voted from orbit under Texas law since 1997.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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 University of California, Santa Barbara archive compiles presidential election data from 1789 to the present, including popular vote totals, turnout figures, and contextual resources that explain how the electoral process and political landscape have evolved.

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.

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.

As of 2024, 41 states offer age-based exemptions from state jury duty, with opt-out ages ranging from 65 in Mississippi and South Carolina to 80 in five states. None of these exemptions applies to federal court.

After 1877, former Confederate states passed poll taxes, literacy tests, property requirements, and grandfather clauses to disenfranchise Black voters—restrictions that remained in place for nearly a century until the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

These anonymous voters must see every show in order to weigh in with their vote, meaning a big part of being a voter is a time commitment: Every season has at least 30 unique productions to see.

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 podcast episode examines the closest attempts in US history to eliminate the Electoral College, focusing on a major 1960s reform push—and why, despite broad support, it ultimately failed.

This interactive tool lets users explore the outcomes of every US presidential election from George Washington's uncontested 1789 victory through 2024, showing how electoral votes, state results, and shifting coalitions shaped each race.

In ranked-choice voting, voters rank candidates in order of preference. If no one wins a majority, the lowest-ranked candidate is eliminated, and their votes are reassigned until a candidate surpasses 50%, avoiding separate runoff elections.

Founded in 2018 by MIT graduates, Kalshi won a federal appeals court ruling in October 2024 that allowed it to offer election contracts in the US. When prediction markets predicted President Donald Trump's win (more accurately than most polls), prediction markets were thrust into the public eye.