Voting is how people get a say in what happens in their city, state or country. People vote for candidates to hold local, state and national positions. Here is how a vote is cast, counted and checked in the United States, and where some of the steps came from. It starts before Election Day, with a list of who is allowed to vote.

In the United States, a citizen who is 18 or older can vote, as of February 2026. In almost every state, people register to vote first; North Dakota does not require it. After they register, they can vote in national, state and local elections. As of November 2026, every state has its own voter registration deadline. As of February 2026, in almost every state a person can register to vote before turning 18 if they will be 18 by Election Day. Some states also let 17-year-olds who will be 18 by Election Day vote in primaries. As of February 2026, non-citizens, including permanent legal residents, cannot vote in federal or state elections, or in most local elections.

On Election Day, many people go to a polling place to vote. Polling places are often in schools, community centers, or other public buildings. As of November 2026, many states let people vote in person before Election Day, and some people vote by mail or by dropping off a ballot before Election Day. In federal elections in the United States, a person cannot vote online, as of February 2026. In most elections they vote in person at a polling place or with an absentee ballot.

One common way to vote in the United States is optical scan, where a voter marks a paper ballot with pen or pencil and a machine tallies it. Another is touch-screen voting, where voters pick on a computer screen. These were the common ways as of November 2026. In the voting process the voter's choice stays secret, and machines or election workers count the votes for each candidate.

The Census Bureau reported in April 2025 that in the 2024 presidential election, 73.6% (174 million people) of the citizen voting-age population was registered to vote, and 65.3% (154 million) voted. It found that 39.6% of people voted in person on Election Day, 30.7% voted in person before Election Day, and 29.0% voted by mail. The Census Bureau has collected voting and registration data since 1964 and has surveyed voters every two years for its Voting and Registration Supplement. That was so as of November 2026.

Victoria and South Australia were the first Australian states to introduce a secret ballot, in 1856, which is why it is called the Australian ballot. In Great Britain the secret ballot was introduced for all parliamentary and municipal elections by the Ballot Act of 1872. In the United States the Australian ballot was widely adopted after the presidential election of 1884. In Australian ballot voting, boxes have only a small slit at the top and are examined before the poll begins. They cannot be opened until the count begins.

Once many people could vote, open voting was no longer tolerable because it could involve undue influence. That ranges from hidden persuasion and bribery to intimidation, coercion, and punishment. Secret voting greatly lowers the chance of undue influence.

In very small voting groups, members may not need a formal vote, because the “sense of the meeting” emerges from discussion. Large electorates need formal, standard voting practices. Routine, standard election practices in mass electorates were developed beginning in the mid 19th century. The winner of an election is decided by rules that the voters and leaders have agreed on before the election.

Many votes are decided by a simple majority. But countries count votes under different rules. In plurality voting the winner has the greatest number of votes. In absolute majority voting the winner needs more than half. In extraordinary majority voting the winner needs a higher share, such as two-thirds. In proportional voting parties win seats in proportion to votes. The U.S. Senate votes in several ways, such as roll-call votes where each senator says yea or nay, voice votes, and division votes. In most cases a simple majority is needed, and the vice president may break a tie.

As of November 2026, the Electoral College is a process, not a place. It is the system by which the president and vice president are chosen. Each state has as many electors as it has members of Congress: one for each House member plus two senators. The 23rd Amendment, adopted in 1961, gave Washington, D.C., electors in the Electoral College. The Electoral College has 538 electors, and a majority of 270 electoral votes is needed to elect the President.

On Election Day, people vote for a presidential and vice presidential candidate and a slate of electors who represent those candidates. The names of the electors do not appear on the ballot. Electors meet in their states on the first Tuesday after the second Wednesday in December after the general election, and cast their votes for President and Vice President on separate ballots. Each state's electoral votes are counted in a joint session of Congress on January 6 of the year after the electors meet, and the Vice President, as President of the Senate, presides and announces the results. These are the steps as of November 2026.

In 1787 at least four ways to choose the President were proposed: by Congress, by state governors, by state legislatures, or by a direct vote of the voters. The Electoral College was made at the Constitutional Convention in 1787 as a compromise between a vote in Congress and a popular vote. Article II of the Constitution let states pick electors in any manner they chose, in a number equal to their representation in Congress. Under the original plan, electors voted for two people, and the person with the most votes, if a majority, became president and the next vice president. If no one had a majority, the House of Representatives chose among the top five. A tie in 1800 between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr led to the 12th Amendment, ratified in 1804, which required separate votes for President and Vice President.

As of November 2026, a post-election audit checks that the equipment and procedures used to count votes worked properly, using a hand count of paper records. All 50 states and Washington, D.C., conduct some type of post-election audit. Only a sample of the paper records is typically checked, so it is in effect a partial recount that checks whether the voting system recorded and counted votes accurately. An audit can inform election officials of any errors in the system and can help avoid a full recount by showing when one is needed.

Every country that holds elections sets its own rules about who is allowed to vote. Today, most countries allow nearly all adult citizens to vote. In some countries, notably Australia and Belgium, citizens are legally required to vote, and nonvoters can face fines. That was true as of November 2026.

Words to know

• ballot: voting paper
• electors: candidates' representatives
• audit: check of records
• plurality: most votes
• register: sign up