What happens on the US election day? And after that?

November 5 is Election Day in the United States, and voters will cast ballots not only to determine the future president but also most members of Congress.

The presidential race is tight between Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump.

DW has the answers to the most important questions about the US electoral process.

Who votes?

About 244 million people aged 18 and older are eligible to vote.

Many formerly incarcerated people are excluded from voting in some US states.

Citizens, including military personnel, living outside the United States can cast absentee ballots to participate in the election.

Who is elected?

The president and 469 members of Congress — the entirety of the 435-seat House of Representatives and just over one-third of the 100-member Senate — will be elected. 

Can convicted felons run?

Yes, in contrast to the right to vote, people with criminal records are allowed to run for office and be elected in the United States. No federal laws exist to prevent this.

The most prominent example is Donald Trump, who can still run for president despite 34 criminal convictions.

What is the election procedure?

Voters can either cast their ballot by mail, by early voting or by showing up at a polling station on Election Day itself.

Virginia kicked off early voting on September 20, followed by California (October 7), Texas (October 21) and Florida (October 26).

Throughout October, 47 states allow early voting.

In some states, it was even possible to vote by post before that. North Carolina has accepted mail-in ballots since September 6.

What is the voter turnout?

Voter turnout has increased in recent years in the United States. While only 59% of eligible voters went to the polls in the 2016 presidential election, four years later it was 66%.

According to the Pew Research Center, this was the highest voter turnout in a nationwide election since 1900.

When do polls close?

While most polling places close between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. local time, some, such as in Kentucky, close at 6 p.m., and others, such as in New York, stay open until 9 p.m.

As the United States spans six time zones, by the time voting ends in Hawaii and Alaska, it's already midnight on the US East Coast and initial projections have been announced.

What happens after the polls close?

As soon as the polling stations shut on Election Day, the votes are counted by poll workers in thousands of districts across the country.

If the polling place uses paper ballots, each ballot box is sealed and delivered to a vote-counting center.

If digital voting machines are used, election officials send the voter data to the counting center.

The rules for processing and counting vote-by-mail ballots vary from state to state.

In 16 states and Washington, D.C., processing of absentee ballots is not allowed until Election Day.

In 10 states, absentee ballots may be processed and counted before Election Day, but the results are not published until after the polls close.

How many votes does a presidential candidate need to win?

In the US, a majority of the popular vote is not enough to win. Instead, the future head of state needs to have a majority in the Electoral College, or 270 of the 538 possible electoral votes. Only this number counts in deciding who will serve as president and vice president.

For all but two of 50 states, majority voting system applies.

Even if there is only a wafer-thin majority for a candidate in a state, the winner there receives all the state's electoral votes.

Therefore, a candidate could win more popular support than their opponent but still lose. This has happened four times in the history of the United States, most recently in the Democrats' losses in 2000 and 2016.

Hillary Clinton had almost 3 million more votes than Trump in 2016, but Trump had the majority in the Electoral College.

What is the role of swing states?

Swing states play a decisive role in the presidential elections. Swing states are US states that are neither firmly in the hands of the Democrats nor the Republicans.

The key swing states this year are Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. In 2020, Arizona, Wisconsin, Georgia and Michigan went to current President Joe Biden. Trump won North Carolina in the 2020 election.

What if no one wins an Electoral College majority?

In the event that both presidential candidates are tied with 269 electoral votes each, it would be up to the House of Representatives to choose the winner.

Each state delegation would receive one vote, and a majority (26) would be required to win.

This has not happened to date.

When is the result officially announced?

In a head-to-head race, the announcement of the final official result may take some time. According to electoral law, any discrepancies in states must be resolved by December 11.

On December 17, the electors will meet in their state capitals to formally cast their votes for president and vice president.

On January 6, 2025, Congress will convene in Washington to count the electoral votes and officially confirm the winner of the election.

On January 20, the inauguration ceremony for the president takes place in Washington.

This article was originally written in German.