Ballotpedia's 2024 Election Help Desk
Ballotpedia's 2024 Election Help Desk provides reliable, nonpartisan answers to more than 50 election-related questions on topics ranging from voter registration, to casting a ballot, to the certification of final results. From Can I register to vote online? to What happens if there is a tie in the Electoral College?, explore the topics below at the Help Desk.
- General election information
- Important dates and deadlines
- Absentee/mail-in voting
- Reporting and certifying election results
- Disputing election results
- Presidential election
- Electoral college
- Post-election issues
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Ballotpedia's 2024 Election Help Desk
General election information
- Voting in 2024
- Who can I contact with questions about voting?
- Who runs elections in the United States?
- Why do states have different election rules?
- Can I register to vote online?
- Does my state have same-day voter registration?
- Do I need voter ID?
- Do I have to vote for everything on my ballot?
- What happens if I mark outside the lines or use the wrong pen/pencil?
- Can I take a ballot selfie?
- Is my employer required to grant me time off to vote?
- Can I vote if I have a felony conviction?
- Can I vote if I am not a citizen?
- How are candidates ordered on the ballot?
- What is a provisional ballot?
- What does it mean to challenge a voter's eligibility, and who can do it?
- How can I learn more about how my jurisdiction administers elections?
Important dates and deadlines
- Voter registration deadlines, 2024
- Early voting dates, 2024
- Absentee/mail-in ballot request deadlines, 2024
- Absentee/mail-in ballot return deadlines, 2024
- Election results certification dates, 2024
Absentee/mail-in voting
- Absentee/mail-in voting
- Absentee/mail-in voting eligibility
- How does absentee/mail-in voting work?
- Absentee/mail-in voting witness requirements
- How can I check the status of my ballot?
- What happens if I vote by mail and want to change my ballot at a later date?
- What happens if someone votes by mail and then tries to vote in person?
- What happens if someone votes by absentee/mail-in ballot and dies before Election Day?
- Do absentee/mail-in ballots take longer to count than in-person ballots?
- How do states verify absentee/mail-in ballots?
- How do election workers match signatures?
- Ballot curing rules by state
- When can states begin processing and counting absentee/mail-in ballots?
- Processing, counting, and challenging absentee/mail-in ballots in the states
Reporting and certifying election results
- Are results reported on election night coming from in-person or absentee/mail-in votes?
- How do major media outlets declare winners?
- What happens if candidates declare victory before results are final?
- How and when are election results finalized?
Disputing election results
- Can candidates win an election if they have already conceded?
- Election recount laws and procedures in the 50 states
- Who can request a recount?
- Who pays for recounts and contested elections?
- Who can file election-related lawsuits?
- Who can call a redo election?
- What are the reasons to call a redo election?
Presidential election
- What are the steps and deadlines for electing the President of the United States?
- Can presidential candidates win the election if they have already conceded?
- What happens if a presidential nominee becomes incapacitated before the election?
- What happens if the winning presidential candidate becomes incapacitated before taking office?
- What happens if a presidential candidate declares victory in the 2024 election before results are final?
- Can a redo be held for a presidential election?
Electoral college
- What is the Electoral College?
- What are faithless electors in the Electoral College?
- What happens if there is a tie in the Electoral College?
- Can members of Congress object to Electoral College results?
- What does the Electoral Count Reform Act mean for the 2024 presidential election?
- What is the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact?
Post-election issues
Voting information by state
Click a state on the map below to read information about voting procedures in that state.
Ballotpedia's 2020 Election Help Desk
- See also: Ballotpedia's 2020 Election Help Desk
Ballotpedia's Election Help Desk began in response to the backdrop of uncertainty in the lead up to the 2020 election. Our readers had questions about what to expect in elections at all levels of government, from the casting of ballots to the certification of final results. Ballotpedia's 2020 Election Help Desk was designed to answer those questions. Since then, the Help Desk has expanded to cover more topics from readers and to serve as a robust resource for voters looking for answers about voting and elections in their state and across the country.
Help Desk information on disputed elections included:
More Help Desk resources and analysis:
- Analysis of absentee/mail-in voting, 2016-2018
- Mail-in ballot rejection by state, 2016-2018
- Uncalled races on election night in the 2018 elections
See also
Footnotes
