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Your Election Questions Answered

Here is a guide on how to vote, how the election process works, when we will know who won and more.

Voters wait in line to cast their ballot at a polling place in Austin, Texas, on the first day of early voting in the state.Credit...Tamir Kalifa for The New York Times

[Live 2020 Elections coverage.]

Voting can be confusing in the best of times, and 2020 is not the best of times.

To help you navigate the process, we’ve put together several guides, including how to vote in each state, where you can vote by mail, how much time you have to vote by mail, when your ballot will be counted, how many absentee ballots have been cast already and what states President Trump and Joseph R. Biden Jr. need to win.

But we know you may still have questions, so we’ve highlighted some of the top voter concerns for you here. If you have a question that we haven’t covered, please let us know by filling out this form. We will update this page regularly.

Tuesday, Nov. 3.

It varies from state to state.

In some states, including Arizona, Florida and Pennsylvania, it has already passed. In others, including Michigan and Minnesota, you can show up at your polling place on Election Day and register on the spot. Others have deadlines between now and Election Day.

You can confirm your state’s registration deadline here.

In many states, early voting is already underway. The first polls opened in mid-September, and around 35.7 million people have already voted. Another 64.6 million have voted by mail.

You can find your state’s options here.

Every state has different deadlines for requesting and returning ballots. You can find yours here.

In some states, election officials will accept ballots received after Election Day as long as they were postmarked by Election Day. But there have already been delays and other snags in sending out mail-in ballots, and some of the extended deadlines could be overturned in court. Given the uncertainty, it’s best to request and submit your ballot as early as possible.

You can return it as soon as you receive it. It’s impossible to submit it too early.

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People cast their ballots in person during the first day of early voting in Nevada at a tented voting site outside Boulevard Mall.Credit...Bridget Bennett for The New York Times

Each state has an online portal where you can look up your polling location. You can find the link to your state’s portal through our voting guide; just select your state, your registration status and the “in-person” option.

If you’re still not sure, you can contact the election office in your county.

You can find your congressional district by entering your ZIP code here, and your state legislative districts by entering your address here.

It depends on where you live. Some states require photo identification, some require proof of residence but not a photo, and some require no identification at all.

You can look up your state’s requirements in our voting guide.

It depends on where you live. In some states, your employer is only required to give you time off if your work hours don’t allow enough time to get to the polls. Other states have laws that designate how much time workers must be allowed off to vote, which can be paid or unpaid. You can check your state’s laws here.

As a general rule, if your state allows time off to vote, you must tell your employer how much time you’ll need. Also, keep any proof that you voted on hand — not all states protect workers when they take time off to vote, and employers could potentially dock your pay if they believe you used your time off to do something else.

No. You can select “no party,” “no party affiliation” or a similar option — the exact language varies by state — to identify as an independent voter. But be mindful that in some states, independents can’t vote in party primaries.

To change parties, you need to update your voter registration information before your state’s registration deadline, which you can confirm here. If you’ve missed the deadline, though, don’t worry — you can vote for any candidate on the general-election ballot, regardless of the party you’re registered with.

Your House representative will be on the ballot this year — as is the case every two years — and 35 of the 100 seats are up for grabs in the Senate, where terms last for six years. Some ballots will also include state and local races, as well as propositions covering a range of issues like marijuana legalization, abortion access and voting methods.

Contact local officials to see what’s on the ballot in your community, or check unofficial guides like Vote411 and Ballotpedia, where you can search for information based on where you live.

No. The votes you cast will be counted even if you leave some races blank.

That being said, local and state officials can have just as much impact on your life as federal officials do — if not more — so it is worth taking the time to research the candidates and vote in those races.

Check with your state election board to see where you qualify as a legal resident, keeping in mind that the rules vary by state. To vote in New York, for example, you need to have lived there for at least 30 days before the election.

If you want to vote in the state you moved from, request an absentee ballot right away. Most states are allowing any registered voter to request a mail-in ballot during the coronavirus pandemic, but the request deadlines have already passed in many states.

If you want to vote in the state you moved to, you may still be able to register there, although some states’ deadlines have passed. Many states don’t require an in-state photo ID, but you will most likely need to provide proof of residency, such as a utility bill.

You can read more about your options here.

No. You cannot vote online or by text message. Any message claiming otherwise is false and should be reported as election disinformation.

To find out how you can vote, you can use this guide.

The rules vary widely from state to state, and sometimes they depend on the nature of the crime.

The National Conference of State Legislatures has a guide, and so does the Campaign Legal Center, an advocacy group. But keep an eye out for changing laws: Iowa, for example, recently extended voting rights to people with felony convictions, though the registration process can be confusing. Check with local election officials to see what your rights are.

Yes, people without a permanent address can vote in all 50 states.

To register, you can designate a place where you stay — which could be a shelter, an intersection or a park — to determine your district and polling place. You may also need to give an address in order to receive a mail-in ballot, in which case it is acceptable to use a shelter, an advocacy organization or a friend who is willing to accept the mail.

Still, the paperwork for voter identification in some states can be hard to navigate. You can find more information through advocacy groups like the National Coalition for the Homeless.

Yes. In many states and counties across the United States, there will be fewer in-person polling places than there have been in recent elections. These decisions are typically made at the local level, and they have been spurred in part by shortages of poll workers, as well as by an increase in mail-in voting. But some fear that the closures could dampen turnout.

In some places — including Maricopa County, Ariz., which includes Phoenix; and Hennepin County, Minn., home to Minneapolis — officials have closed polling places that were poorly ventilated or too small to accommodate voters during the pandemic.

According to an analysis from Vice News, polling places for this election have been most significantly reduced in California, Maryland, Kentucky, New Jersey, Nevada and North Dakota.

Provisional ballots are typically used when there is a question about your voter registration — for instance, if you are registered at a different address or don’t have the identification your state requires. Officials confirm voters’ information and eligibility before counting provisional ballots.

This year, you may also be given a provisional ballot if you decide to vote in person after requesting an absentee ballot. In that case, before counting your in-person vote, officials would need to confirm that you had not already voted by mail. You can avoid this by bringing your absentee ballot with you to the polls as proof that you did not submit it.

Because of the research required to validate them, provisional ballots can delay the vote-counting process.

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A group organized by the Farm Arts Collective made their way through Honesdale, Pa., dressed as mailboxes while singing and dancing about voting.Credit...Ruth Fremson/The New York Times

For the most part, these are just different names for the same thing. Florida offers “vote-by-mail ballots” and New York offers “absentee ballots,” but there is no meaningful difference between the two.

A small handful of states, including Pennsylvania, do draw a distinction: They offer mail-in ballots to any registered voter but require a reason, like a disability or illness, for absentee ballots. Whichever ballot you request, the voting process is basically the same either way.

You can look up your state’s ballot request procedures here. If your state’s request deadline has passed, you won’t be able to vote by mail, but you can still vote in person — either at an early-voting site or at your polling precinct on Election Day.

In most states, the answer is no. But if you’re voting in Alabama, Alaska, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina or Wisconsin, you will need a witness to sign your mail-in ballot envelope.

Like many other voting rules, witness signature requirements have been subject to lawsuits. If you’re not sure whether your state has one, contact your local election officials.

Check with your local election officials. The answer can differ depending on where you live and how much your ballot weighs.

Several states, including Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, are providing postage-paid return envelopes for ballots this year, in addition to the 17 states where that was already required by law. In other states, the decision comes down to local officials: Voters in Chicago are receiving prepaid return envelopes, for example, but voters elsewhere in Illinois may have to pay over $1 in postage.

If you’re worried about getting it wrong, note that the United States Postal Service’s policy is not to delay the delivery of ballots that don’t have enough postage, according to a spokeswoman.

If you live in the United States, no, you should not do this. (It is an option for overseas voters.) Many states will reject ballots delivered by a private carrier. Also, only the United States Postal Service can apply postmarks, and ballots that don’t have a postmark may be challenged.

Given how close Election Day is, the best way to ensure that your ballot arrives on time is to put it in a drop box or bring it to an election office in person. You can find options in your state here.

It depends on where you live. Some states, like New York, allow this. In others, like Texas, your only options are mailing your ballot or dropping it off at your county’s election office. You can see what your state allows here.

Most states have a website where you can track your mail-in ballot. You can find the link for your state in our voting guide.

No. Mail-in ballots count exactly the same as in-person ballots. Many states will report in-person results first, but every valid ballot will be counted equally no matter how it was cast.

It depends where you live. Generally speaking, you can take your mail-in ballot to your designated polling place and exchange it for an in-person ballot. Some states let you complete your absentee ballot in person and hand it in, or fill out a provisional ballot. But every state has different rules, so be sure to check with your local election officials.

One thing to be very clear on: You cannot vote twice. Intentionally doing so is a felony, and every state has safeguards in place to prevent it.

Yes. While isolated cases of voter fraud do happen, they are extremely rare, and states have systems in place to catch them. This is true of both mail-in and in-person voting.

Five states — Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah and Washington — started mailing ballots to all voters even before the coronavirus pandemic, and all of them have maintained election security. There is also no evidence that mail-in voting benefits one party over another.

It depends on which state you’re voting in. You can look up yours here.

If your state lets you return your ballot electronically, request one at VotefromAbroad.org, ask to receive it by email or online, and return it according to the instructions. If your state accepts ballots only by mail, fill out the backup Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot at fvap.gov. Print it out, sign it and put it in the mail.

At this point, to avoid postal delays, it’s probably best to send your ballot via an express delivery service like FedEx or DHL — in many countries, they’re giving voters discounts. For further assistance, email vote@fvap.gov. Military service members should contact their Installation Voter Assistance Office.

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A voter drops off her ballot at a tented voting site in Las Vegas.Credit...Bridget Bennett for The New York Times

Many states will contact you if your signature is rejected and give you an opportunity to fix the error, a process known as ballot “curing.” In other states, unfortunately, officials are not required to notify you, and your ballot may be discarded. You can read more about the signature matching process here.

Signature requirements have been the subject of numerous lawsuits this year, and courts have generally — but not universally — ruled that voters have a right to be informed if their ballot is rejected and given an opportunity to cure it.

You should call your local election office — the same office you requested the ballot from — as soon as possible and ask for a replacement ballot.

But with Election Day nearing, you may need to consider voting in person instead if you’re not sure you can get and return a replacement ballot by Nov. 3.

Voters in some states have reported defective ballots or return envelopes, ranging from incorrectly addressed materials, as happened in New York City, to return envelopes that arrived already sealed, as happened in Florida because of humidity.

If you notice a problem with your ballot or return envelope, contact the office that sent it to request a replacement right away. In many states, this will be your county election board; in others it may be your town or county clerk.

The California Republican Party recently placed ballot boxes in Los Angeles, Fresno and Orange Counties and deceptively labeled them as “official.” California’s secretary of state and attorney general sent a cease-and-desist order to Republican leaders, ordering them to remove the boxes, but party leaders refused to do so.

You can find official drop box locations here. If you think you might have dropped your ballot in an unauthorized box, the state recommends that you sign up with its ballot tracking website to ensure your vote is counted.

Votes cast in person on Election Day should be counted that night, but the timeline for counting mail-in ballots will vary by state. Some states, including Florida, allow election officials to begin processing mail-in ballots before Election Day, and those states may be able to report nearly complete totals on election night. But states that require officials to wait until Nov. 3 will need days or potentially even weeks longer.

If the question is “when will we know who won,” it depends how close the race is. If it’s a blowout, we might be able to tell on election night. If the race is close, though, be ready to wait.

States that allow election officials to begin processing mail-in ballots before Election Day can generally report their results faster than states where no early processing is permitted. This means that, among the major swing states, we might have results from Arizona, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Ohio before we have them from Michigan, Pennsylvania or Wisconsin.

But very close races take longer to call, and we can’t predict which states will be closest. A nail-biter in any of these states could delay a race call for days or even weeks while late-arriving and provisional ballots are counted.

Given the huge number of mail-in ballots this year, and the possible delays in counting them, it’s best to err on the side of caution. If a candidate claims victory on election night before news outlets call the race, or if one news outlet is calling it but nobody else is, you should not take those claims at face value.

Most major news outlets, however, will set a very high bar for calling the race and won’t do so if there is any doubt about the outcome. It is possible, under certain circumstances, that the race could be called in an accurate, trustworthy way on election night: If, for instance, Mr. Biden were to win Florida and North Carolina, which are expected to count their votes fairly quickly, that would leave Mr. Trump with no realistic path to victory.

The short answer is: because the Constitution says so. Article II of the Constitution calls for presidents to be chosen by the Electoral College, not by direct popular vote.

There are 538 electors total, and a candidate needs a simple majority of 270 to win the presidency. The number of electors each state has is based on its population, and each state can decide how to allocate its electors. Most do it based on the statewide popular vote, but Maine and Nebraska award some electors to the winner of each congressional district.

If one candidate wins large states by huge margins, they can win the popular vote but lose the Electoral College. This has happened several times, including in 2016, when Hillary Clinton won the popular vote but Mr. Trump narrowly won key states like Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Polling errors are always possible, so you should never take polls or forecasts as gospel.

But, while it’s impossible to say for sure how accurate this year’s forecasts will be, there are good reasons to believe the polls are more reliable this year than they were in 2016, because pollsters looked closely at what went wrong and changed their methodologies accordingly.

One major change is that more pollsters are weighting for education, meaning they are taking steps to ensure that non-college-educated voters — who were a major factor in Mr. Trump’s victory in 2016 and were underrepresented in many polls — account for a similar percentage in poll samples as they do in the electorate.

Ballots are handled by poll workers representing both major parties. Procedures vary by state, but can include anything from verifying signatures and I.D. to opening envelopes and flattening ballots. Some states begin this process as soon as a ballot arrives; others are only allowed to begin on Election Day. Once the ballot is prepped, it’s counted by a voting machine.

Ballots can be disqualified if they don’t meet the state’s requirements regarding things like voter signature and postmark date, and continuing legal battles have made the criteria confusing in many places. But all ballots that meet the requirements will be counted, regardless of whether the election is close or not.

Mr. Trump has repeatedly refused to commit to accepting the results of the election if he loses. While he cannot directly dispute the result in court, he could challenge voting methods and election processes in an effort to change it.

Republicans in various states are already challenging mail-in ballot laws and voting procedures, and the Trump administration has sued some states, like North Dakota, for passing more accessible voting laws. Mr. Trump has said that he wants his Supreme Court nominee confirmed before Election Day — and that has now happened — because he expects the court to rule on postelection challenges. But that is an extremely unusual occurrence.

Exit polls are surveys conducted with voters as they leave their polling places. Many news media organizations, including The New York Times, get exit poll data from Edison Research, a polling and market research firm.

Results that characterize the outcome of the election in each state are not released publicly until after the polls there have closed. And while they can give us some hints about the outcome of an election, exit polls should not be relied upon for forecasting.

This year, Edison Research has conducted a higher proportion of its surveys during early voting, as well as over the phone, to account for the increase in mail-in ballots. Election Day exit polls will take place at 733 locations across the country, down from about 900 locations four years ago, according to Joe Lenski, the executive vice president of Edison Research.

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Workers at the Miami-Dade County Elections Department work on tabulating mail-in ballots on the first day of early voting.Credit...Saul Martinez for The New York Times

Definitely. There are many ongoing lawsuits around voter registration deadlines, ballot receipt deadlines and more.

The Supreme Court recently ruled that election officials in Wisconsin do not have to count ballots received after the election even if they are postmarked by Election Day, and is expected to rule separately on whether election officials in Pennsylvania must accept late ballots if the postmark is not clear. Federal appeals courts are considering whether Texas and Ohio can limit counties to only one ballot drop-off site. And that’s just a small selection.

There are three official channels to report voter suppression. You can contact the election office for your state or territory, file a report with the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department or complete this form.

The Justice Department also runs a voting rights hotline at 1-800-253-3931, and the American Civil Liberties Union runs a nonpartisan hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE.

Voter intimidation is a federal crime, which means it is illegal everywhere, regardless of whether a state has its own law.

Examples of intimidation include aggressively questioning voters about their citizenship, criminal record or other qualifications to vote, spreading false information about voter requirements, harassment of any kind and physical intimidation.

Jacey Fortin and Jennifer Jett contributed reporting.

Maggie Astor is a political reporter based in New York. Previously, she was a general assignment reporter and a copy editor for The Times and a reporter for The Record in New Jersey. More about Maggie Astor

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section A, Page 17 of the New York edition. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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