How Elections Work — Project HALO

How elections work

If you have any issues when you vote, reach out to your local election official and call or text 866-Our-Vote (866-687-8683) to speak with a trained Election Protection volunteer.

Learn what happens before, during and after the election

Click on your state below to learn more about voting in your state

and how your vote is kept safe and secure.

Map with embedded links to each U.S. state and territory voter information page. This map is best viewed on a desktop.

Learn what happens...

While elections work a little differently depending on where you live, all states have security measures to ensure the integrity of every vote.

- Before the election, states maintain voter registration and voter-verification procedures designed to help ensure that only eligible voters cast ballots and that each voter votes only once. Learn more.
- States also test and approve voting equipment before it is used in an election. Many states rely in part on the U.S. Election Assistance Commission’s federal testing and certification program, alongside their own state testing and approval processes.
- In addition, election offices use chain-of-custody procedures to document and secure ballots, voting equipment, and other election materials as they are prepared, transported, used, and returned.
- 47 states and the District of Columbia offer early in-person voting to all voters. In addition, all states allow absentee or mail voting for eligible voters, and many allow any voter to cast a mail ballot before Election Day.
- Most states and the District of Columbia provide a way for voters to track their mail ballot, helping voters confirm when election officials send, receive, and in many cases accept the ballot for counting.
- After the election, officials continue counting eligible ballots, resolve provisional and mail-ballot issues under state law, canvass the returns, and certify the official results. In many states, voters also have a limited opportunity to cure certain mail-ballot defects that might otherwise prevent the ballot from being counted. Learn more.
- States allow election observers under state-specific rules, but observer qualifications and access to different parts of the process vary by state.
- Forty-nine states require some type of post-election audit to check that ballots were counted accurately and that the reported outcome is correct.