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Elections in America, by the Numbers

September 7, 2023

More than 10,000 elections are held in an average year in the U.S.

On any given Tuesday — or other days of the week — there is an election being held somewhere in the U.S. And elections are not one-day events — they are processes that involve significant preparation by many dedicated people.

Why so many elections?

There are more than half a million elected officials in the U.S.! Let’s add it up... 2: President and Vice President; 100 Senators; 435 Representatives; 50 state governors; 7000+ state legislators; 3,000+ counties and 19,000+ cities and towns, and all have some form of elected leadership, including: county executives, county council members, mayors, city council members, judges, school board members.

Elections are different from place to place:

There are more than 8,000 jurisdictions with different systems and methods of voting, including: in person at a polling place, in person at a vote center, absentee & vote by mail, two-round runoff, ranked choice, with a touch screen, with a pen, with assistive technology.

Elections are local:

Each state has a chief election authority. Elections are usually administered at the county level. Election officials are responsible for: overseeing voter registration; preparing the ballots; managing polling locations; distributing voting machines; ensuring the accessibility, integrity and efficiency of the voting process; many other tasks that help ensure elections run smoothly!

Data: 1. Election Audits Across the United States; 2. United States Census Bureau; 3. Federal Voting Assistance Program; 4. 2022 National Conference of State Legislatures.
Version 3.0.1. Information is current as of September 2023.