Washington.- The US general election on November 5 will decide the course of the nation, but it is far from a nationally administered contest. All 50 states and the District of Columbia administer their own elections, and each does things a little differently.
Here are some notable differences in the 2024 elections:
Maine and Nebraska allocate Electoral College votes by congressional district
To win the presidency, a candidate must receive at least 270 of the 538 Electoral College votes. In 48 states, the state winner gets all of that state’s collegiate votes, and the same is true in the nation’s capital.
In Maine and Nebraska, the candidate who gets the most votes in each congressional district wins one collegiate vote from that district. The candidate who wins the statewide vote receives two more.
In 2020, Democrat Joe Biden received three of Maine’s four collegiate votes because he won the popular vote in the state — the absolute number of state votes — and in his 1st Congressional district. Republican Donald Trump received a collegiate vote from the 2nd Congressional District. Trump earned four of Nebraska’s five votes having won the popular vote in the state, as well as his 1st and 3rd Congressional districts; Biden received a collegiate vote for winning the 2nd Congressional District.
Alaska and Maine use ranked-choice voting
In ranked-choice voting, voters rank candidates in order of preference on the ballot. If no candidate is the first choice for more than 50% of voters, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated. Voters who chose that candidate as their first choice redistribute their votes to their next choice. This continues, eliminating the candidate with the fewest votes, until someone with the majority of votes emerges.
Maine uses ranked-choice voting in state primaries and for federal offices in general elections. This means Maine voters can rank presidential, Senate and House candidates on ballots that include the Democrat and Republican who topped their respective party primaries, as well as third-party candidates and independents who meet the requirements.
The presidential ballot will include Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris, plus three other candidates. In the six years since ranked-choice voting was implemented, the state has used it twice in congressional elections in its 2nd legislative district. The 2020 presidential race did not move to ranked-choice voting, as the winners of the state and each legislative district exceeded 52% of the vote.
Alaska holds open primaries for state offices and sends the top four candidates, regardless of party, to the general election, in which the winner is decided by ranked-choice voting. In all state legislative and executive offices, Alaskans can elect up to four names, which may include multiple candidates from the same party.
In Alaska, the exception is the presidency, where for the first time you can vote in order of preference. This year, there will be eight presidential candidates on the ballot, and citizens of this state can rank all the candidates if they wish. The last time the winner of Alaska’s presidential race fell short of 50% of the vote was in 1992, when third-party candidate Ross Perot won nearly 20% of the national popular vote.
But in 2022, both Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola and Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski won their elections after both opted for ranked-choice voting.
Another obstacle present this year? In Alaska, where ranked-choice voting was implemented by ballot measure in 2020, there is a voter initiative on this fall’s ballot to repeal it.
In California and Washington, candidates from the same party can face each other
California and Washington hold open primaries in which all candidates run on the same ballot and the two most voted go on to the general election, regardless of party. This year, there are two House elections in Washington that include candidates from the same party, one with two Republicans and one with two Democrats. In California there are four: three with only Democrats and one with only Republicans.
The winning party in those six districts will be reflected in The Associated Press’ online graphic showing the balance of power in the House of Representatives at the close of the polls, and not once a winner has been declared, because the party of the winner is a foregone conclusion.
Louisiana celebrates “primaries” on November 5
Louisiana holds what it calls “open primaries” on the same day the rest of the country holds its general election. In Louisiana, all candidates run on the same open primary ballot. Any candidate who receives more than 50% of the vote in the primary directly wins the office.
If no candidate exceeds 50% of the votes, the two most voted go to a second round, which may end up pitting two Republicans or two Democrats against each other. Louisiana calls these races “general elections.”
This will change in elections to the US House of Representatives starting in 2026, when primaries for congressional elections will be held earlier and open only to registered members of a party. Some states will still hold open primaries in November, but the change will prevent future members of Congress from having to wait until December – a month later than the rest of the country – to find out if they are going to Washington.
Nebraska has two competing abortion measures on the ballot, but only one can be enacted
In Nebraska, any measure that receives approximately 123,000 valid signatures can run for election. This year, two abortion-related measures met this threshold.
One would enshrine in the Nebraska Constitution the right to abort up to or after fetal viability to protect the health of the pregnant woman. The other would include in the Constitution the current prohibition of abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy, with exceptions in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the pregnant woman.
It is the first time since the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision that overturned the Roe v. Wade, that a state has measures on the ballot that seek to roll back the right to abortion and protect it at the same time.
It is possible that voters will end up approving both measures. But since they compete with each other and, therefore, both cannot be enshrined in the Constitution, the measure with the most votes in favor will be the one that is approved, according to Nebraska’s secretary of government.
Georgia holds second round if a candidate does not obtain the majority of votes
In primaries, a handful of states, mostly in the South, hold runoffs if no candidate gets at least 50% of the vote. In elections with more than two candidates, second rounds are common. Primary elections have been held in several states this year.
Georgia uses the same rules in general elections. The last three Senate elections were held because a third-party candidate obtained enough votes to prevent the Republican or Democratic candidate from surpassing 50% of the vote.
But this year, runoff possibilities may be limited to less important elections, such as state legislative elections. This year in Georgia there are no Senate elections, and in the House of Representatives elections there are only two candidates running.
Texas, Florida and Michigan register a large majority of votes before the final polls close
This is common in states that span multiple time zones. In most states, polls close at the same time in each time zone.
AP will not announce the winner of a race before all polls in a jurisdiction close, even if votes already announced before that time make it clear who will win the race. Therefore, if there is a statewide race in a state where the polls close at 8 pm local time, but part of the state is in the Eastern time zone and part of the state is in the Central time zone, the earliest AP can give the winner is at 8 pm CST/9 pm EST.
The AP will continue to show results as they come in from counties with closed polls.
Some of the largest states with differentiated poll closing times are Florida, Michigan, Texas and Oregon. Tennessee is an exception, as although the state is in both the Eastern and Central time zones, all counties coordinate their voting to end at the same time.
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