It’s Time

Our CEO, Joanna Lydgate, recently pointed out to Teen Vogue that “Election Day” is almost an outdated concept. It’s more like election season—and we’ve been in it for a while now. Voting has been underway for weeks.

But Tuesday is the big day, when we’ll begin to get some clarity about the choices Americans have made in this consequential election. (If you’re still deciding, head over to ElectionDeniers.org to learn where all the candidates stand on free and fair elections.)

Next week is going to be busy. So here are some thoughts to keep us all grounded:

🗳️ It’s safe to vote. Election officials and law enforcement leaders have been working together for months to plan for a smooth election. Casting your vote safely and in private is a fundamental American freedom.

🗳️ The results will take time. In counties across the country, tens of thousands of election workers will work day and night to count the votes and verify the totals. They will take the time they need to get this right. (In some close presidential states, and especially places where vote counting can’t legally begin until Election Day, election officials have stressed that it’s unlikely we’ll know the winner on Tuesday night.)

🗳️ You may see premature claims of victory. Don’t buy it. What we think of as the “lead” may shift back and forth. That is normal. Margins change as results come in from different areas and as mail and absentee ballots are tabulated. Elections aren’t over until every eligible vote has been counted. Even the projections you see in the media are unofficial.

🗳️ State and local election officials are your best source for accurate election information. Rumors and false information can spread especially quickly in the vacuum before election results are clear. Stick to trusted sources of information. State and local government websites and official social media accounts are good places to start.

🗳️ The election will be certified under the law. In several states, we’ve seen hints that anti-democracy actors would try to disrupt the formal certification of the results. It won’t work. There are other steps in our election process, such as canvassing and recounts, to handle any questions about the process. But the law is clear: State and local election officials must certify the will of the people, no matter what it is.

🗳️ Election officials have got this. They’ve been put through a lot in the past four years—conspiracy theories, needless paperwork, attempts at political interference, threats—but they are a strong, resilient community of nonpartisan professionals, and now is their time to shine. They are ready, they will follow the law, and they will deliver another free and fair election.

Image: “I Voted” stickers. (Paul Bersebach/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images)

This Week in Democracy

• Tuesday is Election Day, and officials are ready. “I have incredible confidence that our election infrastructure has never been more secure,” said Jen Easterly, the director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. “Election officials have never been better prepared to deliver safe and secure and free and fair elections for the people.”

  Nearly 70 million Americans have already voted. You can find your polling place, check your voter registration status, see what early voting options are available to you and more at CanIVote.org.

  ➡️ EXPLORE: CanIVote.org

• Voters in 41 states have Election Deniers on their ballot for Congress or statewide office, according to States United Action’s final pre-election tally. You can find out which candidates in your state are Election Deniers at ElectionDeniers.org. Our team will be tracking and analyzing where Election Deniers are winning and losing starting Tuesday night.

  ➡️ EXPLORE: ElectionDeniers.org

• Most people don’t expect election results early on election night, according to a new survey conducted by States United and YouGov. Each state has different timelines for counting ballots, so it may take time to get final results—including for the presidential race. Our partners at Protect Democracy have a useful guide on what to expect as votes are counted in key states, and The New York Times has estimates for when to expect results in your state.

  ➡️ EXPLORE: The results of our survey and Protect Democracy’s guide

• As vote-counting wraps up, you might begin to hear a lot about election certification, a mandatory step in the election process. Our partners at the Brennan Center for Justice have a helpful explainer that outlines how the process works.

  ➡️ EXPLORE: How Elections Are Certified in Battleground States

State of the States

In Michigan, the clerk of Rock River Township and his deputy were removed from overseeing next week’s election after they indicated an intent to count ballots by hand. The township’s deputy treasurer and a nearby township clerk will run the election instead, according to Jonathan Brater, the director of the state’s Bureau of Elections. Brater had warned the clerks that a hand count would violate state law, “interfere with the integrity of the election process, undermine the county canvass, and jeopardize the ability of candidates to request a recount.” A States United report found that hand counts also risk extraordinary delays, costs, and mistakes.

➡️ EXPLORE: The Reality of Full Hand Counts: A Guide for Election Officials

In New York, a state appeals court suspended the law license of Kenneth Chesebro, a key architect of the “fake electors” plot to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Chesebro pleaded guilty to a felony in the Georgia election interference case last year, which the New York judges said was a serious crime warranting his suspension.

In Oregon and Washington, ballot drop boxes were targeted by attempted arson attacks. Law enforcement believes one suspect committed the attacks in both states. Some ballots were damaged, but many were protected by fire suppression systems built into the drop boxes. Local police, the FBI, and U.S. Attorneys’ offices are working together to investigate and hold accountable anyone responsible for attempting to disenfranchise voters. And every impacted voter will have an opportunity to make sure their vote is counted.

Tim Scott, the Elections Director of Multnomah County, Oregon, said that “virtually all the ballots” were protected by fire suppression systems. Only three ballots were damaged, and his department is contacting those voters. Scott encouraged any concerned voters to reach out to his office, or check the tracking status of their ballot at multco.us/trackyourballot.

Washington elections staff were able to identify hundreds of damaged ballots, and replacements are on their way to voters. Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs’ office encouraged voters to check the status of their ballot at VoteWA.gov. If their returned ballot is not marked as “received,” voters can print a replacement ballot or visit their local elections department to get one.

In Pennsylvania, a judge threw out a lawsuit brought by six members of Congress who sought a last-minute overhaul of verification procedures for overseas and military ballots. Among their requests was a freeze on counting those ballots for the rest of the year.

Imposing new procedures just days before the election “would upend the Commonwealth’s carefully laid election administration procedures,” the judge wrote. “[W]e need not tempt fate.” The judge also expressed skepticism as to why the plaintiffs waited for more than two years after the original procedures were implemented to bring their case.

In a separate suit, a judge ordered Bucks County to extend the deadline for voters to request a mail-in ballot to 5 p.m. Friday.

In Virginia, officials were authorized to resume a program that removed more than 1,600 voters from the state’s voter rolls after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed it to continue. The program is intended to remove supposed noncitizens from voter rolls, even though it’s already illegal under state and federal law for noncitizens to vote (and extremely rarely even attempted).

A federal judge had previously put Virginia’s program on hold after civil rights groups and the Justice Department sued. The Justice Department argued that the program is in violation of the National Voter Registration Act, which requires that voter roll maintenance like that in Virginia must be completed 90 days before an election. The groups also provided evidence that the program—like a similar program in Alabama that was recently blocked—had likely removed eligible U.S. citizens from voter rolls.

“Eligible Virginia voters should know that regardless of this purge they can register to vote on Election Day and cast their ballots,” said Danielle Lang of the Campaign Legal Center.