conducts✪ WhoU.S. elections?

In the United States, elections—even
those for federal office—are conducted
locally. Thousands of administrators—typically civilservants who are county or city officials or clerks—are
responsible for organizing and conducting U.S. elections.
These administrators perform an importantand complex set of tasks: �✏ Setting the exact dates for elections.
✏ Certifying the eligibility of candidates.
✏ registering eligible voters and preparing
lists of registered voters.
✏ Selecting voting equipment.
✏ designing ballots.
✏ organizing a large temporary workforce toadminister the voting on Election day.
✏ Tabulating the votes and certifying
the results.

• THoUSANdSof AdmINISTrATorS ArE
rESpoNSIBlE
for orgANIzINg
ANd CoNdUCTINg
U.S. ElECTIoNS.

46

margin of victory or races in which the outcome iscontested and votes are recounted. This happenedin parts of florida during the 2000 U.S. presidential
election—the closest in U.S. history. That race forced many
Americans to consider the myriad administrative tasks
surrounding their elections for the first time.
The U.S. Constitution gives citizens age 18 andabove the right to vote. There is no national list of eligible
voters, so localities create them, by requiring citizens toregister as voters. This is to prevent fraud. In the past,
selective registration procedures were used to discouragesome citizens—most notably, African Americans in theSouth—from voting. Today, the voting rights Act prohibitsthese discriminatory practices.
Each state establishes its own registration requirements. Citizens who move are required to re-registerat their new place of residence. At times, states havemade registration easier and at other times they havetightened the requirements. In 1993, the National voter
registration Act made it possible for citizens to register
to vote when they renew their state-issued driver’s
license. Some states allow voters to register on Election
day. recently, however, some states have passed lawsthat require government-issued identification or eliminate
registration on Election day.

• voT I N gmost U.S. election results are not particularly
close, but occasionally there are races with a very smallElection administrators must ensure thatevery eligible voter who wants to vote is on theregistration list. They also must exclude from thelist those who are unqualified (typically because they
are too young or do not live in the jurisdiction). Generally,
local election officials keep people on the lists even if
they have not voted recently, rather than excluding
potentially eligible voters. When someone not on theregistration list appears at the polls, officials typicallyissue them a provisional ballot to record their votes.
only after that person’s eligibilityis reviewed (this usually
happens after Election Day) is the vote counted.
Election administrators also have to design
the ballots for each election. They must ensurethat all certified candidates are listed and all issues
up for decision are correctly worded. And they• IT TAKES
THoUSANDSoF loCAl
VolUNTEERS
AND oFFICIAlSTo RUN U.S.
ElECTIoNS.

must try to make the ballot as simple and asclear as possible.
There are no national standards for ballot forms,
but federal law does require that administrators provide
ballots in multiple languages when a percentage ofthe population in their jurisdiction does not speakEnglish as a primary language.
Where voting machines have replaced paper
ballots, local administrators are responsible for selecting
and maintaining them. And local officials also must
recruit and train a large temporary staff to work 10 to
15 hours on Election Day.
48

• voT I Ng

✪ How do Americans vote?

• A UNITEDSTATES FlAGSERVES AS
A bACKDRop
AS pEoplE
VoTE AT lINDEll
SCHool INloNG bEACH,
NEW yoRK,NoVEMbER 6,
2012.

Since local authorities rather thana single national authority conduct
elections, different localities—evenin the same state—can have different
types of ballots and voting technology.
Today, very few U.S. voters mark paper ballots byputting an “x” next to a candidate’s name. That's because
many localities use optical systems that mechanicallyscan paper ballots on which voters fill in circles or connectlines. Still others employ a wide variety of mechanizedvoting devices.
In recent years, several states have adopted proce­dures that make ballots available to voters before theelection. This trend started with provisions for absentee
ballots, issued to voters who anticipate being away fromtheir home (and their voting place) on Election Day. Somestates and local jurisdictions gradually liberalized thisprovision, allowing citizens to register as “permanentabsentee voters” and routinely have a ballot mailed totheir home. Two states—oregon and Washington—conduct
their elections entirely by mail. Absentee voters generally
return their completed ballots by mail.
Some states now allow citizens to vote up to three
weeks before Election Day using voting machines in
shopping malls and other public places. Citizens stopby at their convenience to cast their votes.

51• VOT I NG

•early voting affect✪ Doeselection results?

No, because even when citizens voteearly, their votes are not counted
until the polls close on election night.
This prevents official information from being
released about which candidate is ahead or behind,which could possibly influence voters who wait untilElection day to vote.
The one thing that all U.S. localities have incommon is that no votes are officially tabulated andpublicized until after the polls have closed.
Although U.S. television networks often conduct a
joint exit poll of people who have just voted in the nationalelections, this practice has received critical scrutiny
in recent years.

• mANyAmErICANS
voTE By
ABSENTEE
BAlloT;
THEIr voTESArE CoUNTEd
AfTEr
ElECTIoN
dAy.

52

• voT I Ng

is the United States✪ Whatdoing to keep elections
fair in the future?

• pEoplE IN
UNIvErSITy
pArk,
mArylANd,wAITEdHoUrS
To voTEIN THE 2008
ElECTIoN.

One of the important lessons ofthe extremely close 2000 presidentialelection was that the election
administration, balloting and vote-counting
challenges encountered in florida could have occurredalmost anywhere in the United States. Several studies
were commissioned, and a variety of panels heard
expert witnesses and took testimony about the needfor reform.
In 2002, Congress passed the Help America
vote Act to address the problems of the 2000 election
and anticipate new ones. first, the federal government funded state and local efforts to replace outdated
punch-card and lever voting machines. Second, itestablished the Election Assistance Commission to afford
local election technical assistance and to help local
officials establish voting device standards. The commission studies voting machine and ballot design, registration and provisional voting methods, techniques fordeterring fraud, procedures for recruiting and training
poll workers, and voter education programs.
The Help America vote Act marks a significant
expansion of the federal government’s role in amatter traditionally left to localities. But the reforms
introduced have helped restore faith in the U.S.
election process.

55• voT I N g•• Every vote counts.