Federal elections in the United States work on a fixed constitutional calendar: voters choose a president every four years, all 435 members of the U.S. House every two years, and roughly a third of the 100-seat Senate every two years, always on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. The next one falls on November 3, 2026. It is a midterm, so the presidency is not on the ballot, but every House seat and about a third of the Senate are.1Federal Voting Assistance Program. 2026 Primary Elections by State and Territory Any U.S. citizen who is at least 18 on Election Day, meets a short state residency requirement, and is registered can vote, subject to state rules that apply after a felony conviction.
What Offices Are on the Ballot
Article II of the Constitution creates the presidency and vice presidency as four-year terms.2Legal Information Institute. U.S. Constitution Article II The next presidential election is in 2028.
Article I sets up Congress with two different rhythms. House members serve two-year terms, which is why every seat is contested in both presidential years and midterm years. Senators serve six-year terms on a staggered schedule, so only about a third come up in any given cycle. The design keeps the House close to current public opinion while giving the Senate more continuity.
Midterm elections happen two years into a president’s term. Voters pick their congressional representatives without a concurrent presidential race, and the results can shift the balance of power in Congress even though the White House is not on the line.
How the President Is Actually Chosen
When you vote for president, you are not voting directly for the candidate. You are voting for a slate of electors pledged to that candidate.3National Archives. What Is the Electoral College? That system is the Electoral College.
There are 538 electors total. Each state gets a number equal to its congressional delegation (one per House seat plus two for its senators), and the District of Columbia gets three. Winning the presidency takes at least 270 electoral votes.3National Archives. What Is the Electoral College? Most states run winner-take-all, awarding all of their electoral votes to whoever wins the statewide popular vote.
If no candidate reaches 270, the House chooses the president, with each state delegation casting one vote regardless of its size. That has not happened since 1824, but the possibility still shapes how campaigns concentrate their attention on competitive states.
Who Can Vote
Voting in a federal election requires U.S. citizenship, either by birth or through naturalization. Federal law makes it a crime for any non-citizen to vote in an election for president, vice president, or Congress.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 611 – Voting by Aliens Green card holders are included in that prohibition.
You also need to be at least 18 on or before Election Day.5USAGov. Who Can and Cannot Vote Most states let you register before turning 18 as long as you will hit that age by the election. You must also meet your state’s residency requirement, though Supreme Court precedent generally caps that at about 30 days before an election.
The right to vote has been broadened by amendment over time. The 15th Amendment bars denial of the vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.6National Archives. 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Voting Rights The 19th guarantees the vote regardless of sex.7National Archives. 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Women’s Right to Vote The 24th eliminated poll taxes. The 26th set the voting age at 18 nationwide.
Felony Convictions
There is no uniform federal rule here. Each state decides whether and when a person with a felony conviction can vote, and the differences are large.8National Conference of State Legislatures. Restoration of Voting Rights for Felons State approaches generally fall into four groups:
- No loss of rights, including in a few jurisdictions where people can vote while incarcerated.
- Automatic restoration on release from prison, the approach in roughly 23 states.
- Restoration only after the full sentence, including parole and probation, is complete. About 15 states use this rule.
- Additional waiting periods after sentence completion, or a specific action like a governor’s pardon. Around 10 states require this.
Even where restoration is called “automatic,” you still have to re-register through the normal channels. Prison officials usually notify election authorities, but filing a new voter registration is on you.
How to Register
Registration typically asks for your full legal name, residential address, date of birth, and a government-issued ID number such as a driver’s license or state ID. If you have neither, the last four digits of your Social Security number usually work. Your residential address determines your precinct and the races on your ballot. A different mailing address can be listed alongside it.
The National Mail Voter Registration Form is a standardized federal form that lets you register, update your address, change your name, or declare a party.9U.S. Election Assistance Commission. National Mail Voter Registration Form It is accepted in 46 states and the District of Columbia. Four states do not fully accept it, though two of those will treat it as a request for their own registration materials.10U.S. Election Assistance Commission. National Mail Voter Registration Form FAQs You can download it from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission’s website or pick one up at many government offices.
Party affiliation is usually optional. It matters mainly if you want to vote in a party’s primary, since many primaries are closed to non-members. You sign the completed form under penalty of perjury and submit it to your local election official.
Deadlines vary. They range from about 30 days before the election to same-day registration on Election Day itself. Miss the cutoff in a state without same-day registration and you likely cannot vote in that election, so it is worth checking your state’s specific date well in advance.
Ways to Cast a Ballot
Once registered, you generally have several ways to vote. Which ones are available depends on your state.
Election Day in person is the traditional method. You go to your assigned polling place, show ID if your state requires it, and mark a paper or electronic ballot. Polling places are usually in public buildings like schools and community centers.
Early in-person voting lets you cast a ballot days or weeks before Election Day. The window can be as short as a few days or longer than 40, and not every state offers it.
Absentee or mail-in voting lets you request a ballot by mail, complete it at home, and return it by mail, at a secure drop box, or sometimes in person at an election office. Deadlines for requesting and returning mail ballots vary. Most jurisdictions require them to be postmarked by Election Day or received by a specific cutoff.
After ballots are submitted, election officials verify signatures and eligibility before counting. Final results can take days to certify because many jurisdictions process in-person votes before working through mail and provisional ballots.
Provisional Ballots as a Backstop
If you show up and your name is not on the voter rolls, or a poll worker questions your eligibility, federal law guarantees you the right to cast a provisional ballot.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 52 USC 21082 – Provisional Voting and Voting Information Requirements You sign a written statement that you are registered and eligible, then fill out a ballot that gets set aside for later verification. If officials confirm your eligibility, the ballot counts. If not, it does not. Either way, you are not turned away.
Military and Overseas Voters
Active-duty military members, their families, and U.S. citizens living abroad have a separate track. The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, strengthened by the MOVE Act, requires states to accommodate these voters in federal elections.12U.S. Department of Justice. The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act States must send requested absentee ballots at least 45 days before a federal election, offer electronic ways to request registration materials and receive blank ballots, and provide free ballot tracking so voters can confirm receipt. States cannot impose notarization requirements or restrictions on paper type for these ballots.
If your official ballot does not arrive in time, you can use the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot as a backup.13Federal Voting Assistance Program. Overseas Citizen Voters If the official ballot shows up later, fill it out and send it too. Officials will count only one. The Department of Justice can sue states that fail to comply.
Accessible Voting
The Help America Vote Act of 2002 requires that voters with disabilities have the same opportunity to vote privately and independently as anyone else.14U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Voting Accessibility Polling places must include accessible voting machines, and poll workers should be trained to help voters use them.
If you need personal help because of blindness, another disability, or difficulty reading, federal law lets you bring someone of your choosing into the voting booth.15Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 52 USC Subtitle I – Voting Rights The only people who cannot serve as your assistant are your employer or their agent and officers or agents of your union.
Money and Rules Around Campaigns
The Federal Election Commission is the independent agency that regulates money in federal elections.16Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 52 USC Chapter 301 – Federal Election Campaigns Candidates, political action committees, and parties file regular disclosure reports on their contributions and spending, and those reports are public.
The FEC also sets contribution limits, which are adjusted for inflation each cycle. For the 2025-2026 cycle, an individual can give up to $3,500 per election to a federal candidate.17Federal Election Commission. Contribution Limits for 2025-2026 Because the primary and general count separately, one person could contribute up to $7,000 total to the same candidate over a single cycle.
The penalties on the voter side are serious too. Knowingly submitting a fraudulent voter registration or casting a fake ballot carries up to five years in federal prison, a fine, or both.18Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 52 USC 20511 – Criminal Penalties A non-citizen who votes in a federal election faces up to one year in prison and a fine, plus possible deportation and permanent bars to future immigration benefits.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 611 – Voting by Aliens