Although November 6, 2012 is "Election Day," Election Day has increasingly become a relative term.  More than half of states conduct some form of early voting.  By November 4, 2008 a bit less than a third of the electorate had voted early or absentee, and this proportion will no doubt increase in 2012. 

Early and Absentee Voting A Growing Trend

In the November 2008 general election, 61.7% of those eligible to vote turned out and 131.3 million ballots were cast for president.  This was the highest percentage in recent cycles but well short of the record 67% in 1960. 

According to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission's 2008 Survey, 60.2% of those voting in the general election voted in person at polling places, 16.6% voted by domestic absentee ballot, 13.0% by some form of early voting, and 1.3% by provisional ballot.  Early voting, which started in Texas in 1991 (1), has now spread to over half the states. (EVIC)  Other states allow no excuse absentee voting, and Oregon and Washington are using vote-by-mail.  Early voting has significant ramifications on campaigns' get-out-the-vote (GOTV) efforts.  Campaigns encourage supporters to vote early as a way of banking votes, so that on Election Day itself they have fewer people to keep track of. 

In addition to early and absentee voting, other ideas have been put forth to increase voter participation.  On the frontlines are the nation's election administrators, who work to keep their practices and technology up-to-date and to implement new ideas to improve the voting process in their jurisdictions. (EAC, Election Center)  Groups such as the Brennan Center advocate for Election Day registration and ultimately for universal registration.  Ten states and DC have same day registration for presidential elections.  Why Tuesday?, a non-partisan, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2005, has sought to move federal Election Day from the first Tuesday in November to the first Saturday and Sunday of the month.  Why Tuesday? argues that "our process of voting is based on an outdated 19th century agrarian model that long ago lost its relevance."  Looking to the future, Internet voting is a possibility; this may take root among military and overseas voters, but concerns about security of online voting systems remain. 

Avoiding Another Florida

The contested outcome of the election in Florida in 2000 and the 36 days of uncertainty that ensued led to passage of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) and significant investments in upgrading voting equipment around the country.  In 2004 Ohio became a focal point for concerns about voter irregularity.  President Bush's plurality was large enough that the "margin of litigation" was not crossed, but had the election been closer there could have easily been another post-election fiasco.   Election Day 2008 went off without any major glitches (2).

There were, however, incidents along the way.  Both major parties made allegations of fraud and intimidation.  Generally, Democrats have emphasized protecting the right to vote, while Republicans have focused on the need to fight fraud.  ACORN, which claimed to have registered 1.3 million low-income, minority and young voters in 21 states in 2007-08, was a particular target of Republican concerns in the weeks leading up to Election Day 2008.  On Election Day and in the days leading up to it, partisan and independent observers, federal observers, and international observers of varying stripes mobilize to ensure that voters' rights are protected and their intentions heard (3, 4, 5, 6, 7). 

Despite the investments made as a result of HAVA, there remain many areas of concern for election officials such as a shortage of poll workers (8, 9), issues with provisional and absentee ballots, military and overseas voting, and even the possibility of incorrect election outcomes (10).

Election Night: Unofficial Results, Exit Polls...Showtime

Election night coverage and the multi-page spreads in the newspaper the next morning are the culmination of months of preparation and planning.

One key component of election coverage is exit polls, which are based on surveys of voters in randomly selected precincts as they leave polling places.  Exit polls provide a window on the concerns of voters and useful information on variations in voting behavior by gender, race, age, education, income and other factors.  From 1988 to 2002 exit polls were overseen by Voter News Service (initially called Voter Research and Surveys), an entity formed by the networks and the Associated Press.  After poor performance in the 2000 and 2002 general elections, the partners disbanded VNS, and a new cooperative, the National Election Pool, comprised of ABC News, CBS News, CNN, FOX News, NBC News and the Associated Press, formed.  Edison Research (formerly Edison Mitofsky) conducted all exit polling for the National Election Pool in the 2004 and 2008 general elections.  Edison reported:

A second important element of election night coverage is the collection, tabulation and distribution unofficial election night vote results for presidential, Senate, House and gubernatorial races.  The Associated Press fulfilled this role.  As described in a press release:

For news organizations, when everything works, election night is as good as it gets, a chance to show what they can do.  Anchors man elaborate sets, correspondents around the country file reports, and, as the evening progresses, states are called one way or another and the map begins to fill in with red and blue.  [News Organizations Cover Election Day 2008]

Defeat...And Victory

After last-ditch campaign swings, the candidates head to their home states.  On the morning of Election Day they vote, and photos and video of those scenes go out to the world.  The candidate may squeeze in a few more campaign events, then prepare for the last speech of the campaign, be it victory or concession.  On the evening of November 4, 2008 things fell into place fairly quickly.  The networks called the race after 8 p.m. West Coast poll closings (11 p.m. EST), Sen. McCain, in Phoenix, AZ, called Sen. Obama and then delivered his concession speech, and Obama delivered his victory speech within the hour.  [DC photos 1, 2]

The Morning After...What Does It Mean?

The days after the election are peak season for pundits as they assess, analyze, discuss and debate the meaning of the results.  Various interest groups offer their own post-election assessments, often using the opportunity to point to the impact their constituency had on the outcome and to stress their key issues.  [Reactions 2008, 2004]  

Results

The 131.3 million votes cast in the race for president in 2008 were the most ever.  Obama garnered 69.5 million votes (52.9%) to 59.9 million (45.7%) for McCain and 1.9 million votes (1.4%) for other candidates.  Obama carried 28 states, the 2nd CD in Nebraska, and the District of Columbia, winning 365 electoral votes to 173 for McCain.    [Results in Detail or FEC]

Voter Turnout in Recent Presidential Elections

Year	Voting Eligible Population	Highest Office	Total Turnout	Highest Office Turnout Rate	Total Ballots Counted Turnout Rate
2008	212,720,027	131,304,731	132,588,514	61.7	62.3
2004	203,483,455	122,294,978	123,535,883	60.1	60.7
2000	194,331,436	105,375,486	107,390,107	54.2	55.3
1996	186,347,044	96,262,935	-	51.7	-
1992	179,675,523	104,405,155	-	58.1	-
1988	173,579,281	91,594,691	-	52.8	-
1984	167,701,904	92,652,680	-	55.2	-
1980	155,635,102	86,515,221	-	54.2	-

Source: United States Elections Project at George Mason University.  Use of voting eligible population is a refinement on the old measures which used voting age population.  Advanced by Dr. Michael McDonald at George Mason, the concept removes non-citizens and ineligible felons from the equation.  See also Center for the Study of the American Electorate at American University.

Election Day: Take 2...The Electoral College

As you will recall from high school, the president is not selected by direct popular vote, but by intermediaries known as electors.  The electoral system is outlined in the Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution, adopted in 1804 (this significantly modified the original provisions contained in Article II).  Each state has a number of electors equal to its number of congressmen and Senators.  The District of Columbia has three electors, bringing the total to 538.  Most states use a winner-take-all rule; all the state's electors go to the winner of the popular vote in the state.  The exceptions are Maine and Nebraska, which distribute the electors by congressional district.  (In 2004 Colorado voters rejected an initiative which would have distributed electors proportionally according to popular vote in the state.  In Sept. 2011 the Pennsylvania legislature is considering a similar proposal).

Over the years there have been many efforts to abolish the Electoral College and establish direct popular vote; each Congress several resolutions are introduced, but none of them has made headway.  In 2006 a group called National Popular Vote launched an effort to bring about change through the state legislatures.  The premise is a compact or "Agreement Among the States to Elect the President by National Popular Vote" which would take effect once states totalling 270 electoral votes have enacted it.  In August 2010 Massachusetts became the sixth state to enact the measure, and in October 2010 the District of Columbia approved the bill taking the agreement to 28% of the needed amount.  The National Popular Vote effort is making headway, but at its current pace it is clear that the Electoral College system will still be in place in 2012.

Electors are generally party activists.  Some months before the election each party puts together a slate of electors, chosen by congressional district with the exception of the two at-large Senate slots.  If the party's presidential candidate wins the popular vote in the state on Election Day, the members of his or her slate are officially appointed as electors; if not they stay home. 

The law governing electors and the counting of the electoral votes is 3 U.S.C.§§1-21.  Electors meet in ceremonies in each of the state capitols and in the District of Columbia on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December (December 17, 2012).  The electors sign the certificates of vote--actually they sign six copies of the document so there are back-ups.  There are separate votes for president and for vice president.  Each state sends one copy of the certificate of vote to the Office of the President of the United States Senate.  [Photos: Maryland electors meet in Annapolis] 

On or around January 6, 2013 in a special joint session of Congress these envelopes are opened and tallied.  Normally this is a pro forma exercise, but there have been exceptions.  In 2001 members of the Congressional Black Caucus tried to get Congress to reject Florida's electors, but they could not find a Senator to support their effort.  In 2005 certification of the state results proceeded alphabetically until the Ohio votes were announced.  At that point Rep. Stephanie Tubbs-Jones (D-OH), supported by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), announced a challenge.  Debate followed, but the election of President Bush and Vice President Cheney was finally and officially certified.  The joint session certifying the election of Barack Obama and Joe Biden occured without incident on January 8.  [Photos: Joint Session]