Voting

Voting is a fundamental human right. It allows citizens to influence governmental decision-making. Free and fair elections are essential to democracy.

Federal law requires states to:

• meet uniform standards in federal elections,
• maintain centralized voter lists,
• allow voters to cast provisional ballots when necessary, and
• permit voters to verify and correct any missing information that required them to use a provisional ballot.

The Voting Rights Act requires some states and other jurisdictions with histories of discriminatory voting practices to receive federal permission for changes in voting laws, including voter ID laws. This preclearance process must come from a federal court or the Department of Justice. The purpose is to block discrimination. However, the 2013 Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder struck down the formula that determined which jurisdictions had to seek preclearance. Congress still needs to create and pass a new formula. Until then, covered jurisdictions no longer have to seek preclearance for their voting law changes unless a court specifically requires it.

Outside of these limited federal requirements, the U.S. has a decentralized voting system. Voting procedures vary greatly by location. States pass laws related to voter registration, as well as on how and where people can vote and the counting of ballots. Localities then administer these laws.

Voter turnout refers to the percentage of eligible voters who vote in an election. Turnout typically varies by state. This is partly due to each state’s registration and voting procedures. In the 2024 election, about 64 percent of the voting population cast a ballot. This was down slightly from 66 percent in the 2020 election. In the 2022 midterm elections, about 47 percent of eligible voters cast a ballot. This was relatively high for a midterm election.

Electoral College: The Electoral College is used to determine the outcome of U.S. presidential elections. Voters cast their ballots for a slate of electors, who then elect the president and vice president. The formula used to determine the number of electors gives states with smaller populations relatively more electoral power. In five presidential elections, the winner of the Electoral College has been different from the winner of the national popular vote. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact is a potential agreement among some states to award all their electoral votes to the presidential candidate who wins the national popular vote. As of 2024, it has been enacted in 17 states and in the District of Columbia. These jurisdictions represent 209 electoral votes. The agreement will only go into effect when states with at least 270 total electoral votes, the number needed to win the presidency, adopt it.

Voters in the District of Columbia: The Twenty-Third Amendment provides residents of Washington DC the right to vote for president. However, they still do not have the right to vote for representation in Congress. The district has no senators. It has a delegate to Congress in the House of Representatives, but the delegate does not have the right to vote outside of committee. This is a unique voting-rights barrier for the District of Columbia’s nearly 700,000 residents. The district’s population is higher than that of several states. And its residents perform all the obligations of U.S. citizenship, such as paying federal income taxes and serving in the armed forces.