2024 Presidential Election: Here are some ways states are voting

The US general election on November 5 will determine the direction of the country, but it is far from a national fight. The 50 states and the District of Columbia hold their own elections, and each does it a little differently.

Here are some notable changes for the 2024 elections:

Maine and Nebraska distribute electoral votes by congressional district

To win the presidential election outright, a candidate must receive at least 270 of the 538 votes in the Electoral College. In 48 states, the statewide winner receives all of that state’s electoral votes, and the same applies to the nation’s capital.

In Maine and Nebraska, the candidate with the most votes in each congressional district receives one electoral vote from that district. The candidate who wins the statewide vote gets two more.

In 2020, Democrat Joe Biden received three of Maine’s four electoral votes as he won the popular vote in the state and its 1st Congressional District. Republican Donald Trump received one electoral vote from the 2nd Congressional District. Trump received four of Nebraska’s five votes, winning the popular vote in the state and its 1st and 3rd Congressional Districts; Biden received one electoral vote for winning the 2nd Congressional District.

Alaska and Maine use ranked-choice voting

In ranked-choice voting, voters rank candidates for office in order of preference on the ballot. If no candidate is preferred by more than 50% of voters, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated. The votes of voters who chose this candidate as the main candidate are redistributed in favor of the next candidate. This continues, with the candidate with the fewest votes eliminated until someone with the most votes emerges.

Maine uses ranked-choice voting in state primaries and for federal offices in general elections. This means Maine voters can rank candidates for President, Senate and House of Representatives on a ballot that includes Democrats and Republicans emerging from their party primaries, as well as third-party and independent candidates who qualify.

The presidential ballot will include Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris, as well as three other candidates. In the six years since ranked-choice voting was introduced, the state has used it twice in congressional races in the 2nd Congressional District. The 2020 presidential race did not come down to ranked-choice voting, with the winners in the state and each congressional district receiving more than 52% of the vote.

Alaska holds open primaries for offices across the state and sends the top four vote-getters, regardless of party, to the general election, where the winner is determined by ranked-choice voting. In all state legislative and executive offices, Alaskans can rank up to four names, which can include multiple candidates from the same party.

The exception is the president, who is eligible for ranked-choice voting for the first time in Alaska. There will be eight presidential tickets on the ballot this year, and Alaskans will be able to rank all the candidates if they choose. The last time the winner of a presidential election in Alaska fell short of 50% of the vote was 1992, when third-party candidate Ross Perot captured nearly 20% of the popular vote nationwide.

But in 2022, both Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola and Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski won their elections after both went through ranked-choice voting.

Another wrinkle this year? Alaska, which implemented ranked choice voting by ballot measure in 2020, has a voter initiative on the ballot this fall to repeal it.

In California and Washington, candidates from the same party can face off

California and Washington hold open primaries in which all candidates run on the same ballot, and the top two vote-getters advance to the general election, regardless of party. There are two House races in Washington this year that feature candidates from the same party: one with two Republicans and one with two Democrats. There are four in California: three are all-Democrat and one is all-Republican.

The winning party in those six districts will be reflected in an Associated Press online graphic showing the balance of power in the House as voting closes, rather than after the winner is declared because the winning party is a foregone conclusion.

Louisiana will hold its primary on November 5th.

Louisiana holds what it calls an “open primary” on the same day that the rest of the country holds its general election. In Louisiana, all candidates compete on the same open primary ballot. Any candidate who receives more than 50% of the vote in the primary immediately wins the seat.

If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, the top two vote-getters will advance to a runoff that could ultimately pit two Republicans or two Democrats against each other. Louisiana calls these contests “general elections.”

That will change in U.S. House elections starting in 2026, when congressional races will be held earlier and open only to registered party members. Some states will still have open primaries in November, but the change will prevent future members of Congress from waiting until December – a month later than the rest of the country – to find out if they are heading to Washington.

In Nebraska, there are two competing abortion measures on the ballot, but only one can pass.

In Nebraska, any measure that receives about 123,000 valid signatures qualifies for the ballot. This year, two abortion measures reached that threshold.

The Nebraska Constitution could enshrine the right to abortion until fetal viability or later to protect the health of the pregnant woman. Another would write into the constitution the current 12-week ban, except in cases of rape, incest and to save the life of a pregnant woman.

This is the first time since the 2022 Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade that a state has taken action to repeal abortion rights while protecting abortion rights on the ballot.

It’s possible that voters will ultimately approve both measures. But because they compete and therefore cannot be enshrined in the constitution at the same time, the measure with the most yes votes will pass, according to Nebraska’s secretary of state.

Georgia will hold a second round of elections if the candidate does not get a majority of votes

In primary elections, several states, mostly in the South, go to a runoff if no candidate receives at least 50% of the vote. In races with more than two candidates, runoffs are common in these states. Several states held primary elections this year.

Georgia uses the same rules for general elections. The last three Senate races have ended in runoffs because the third-party candidate won enough votes to prevent the Republican or Democratic candidate from exceeding 50% of the vote.

But this year, runoff opportunities may be limited to close races such as those in the state Legislature. There is no Senate race this year, and only two candidates are on the ballot for the U.S. House of Representatives.

Texas, Florida and Michigan are reporting large numbers 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.

The AP will not call the winner of the race until all polls in a jurisdiction have closed, even if votes already recorded before that time make it clear who will win the race. So, if a state has a statewide race where 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, AP can call the winner as early as possible. It’s 8:00 pm CST/9:00 pm EST.

The AP will continue to show results as they come in from closed poll districts.

The largest states with different poll closing times include Florida, Michigan, Texas and Oregon. Tennessee is an exception because although the state is in both the Eastern and Central time zones, all counties coordinate their voting to complete voting at the same time.