The Ballot Box

Your ballot, your polling place, your rights

Everything here is a tool, not a lecture: find what is on your ballot, find where you vote, and know your rights when you get there. Nothing on this page tells anyone how to vote.

Your ballot and polling place

The main event right now is the 2026 midterms: Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, 2026, and everything in this box is aimed at that day first. Start with the first link: enter your address and it shows your ballot, your polling place, and its hours. After this election passes, this shelf stays up and re-aims at the next one, local, state, or federal.

  • VOTE411 — the League of Women Voters' nonpartisan guide. Enter your address for your personalized ballot, your polling place, and a registration check.
  • Vote.gov — the official U.S. government portal: register to vote, check your registration, and see your state's deadlines and rules.
  • Can I Vote — the official state-by-state registration lookup from the National Association of Secretaries of State.
  • FVAP — voting help for military members and Americans living overseas.

If you are turned away at the polls, told you cannot vote, or intimidated: you have the right to ask for a provisional ballot, and federal law backs the ask. For help on the spot, call the Election Protection hotline at 866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683). Stay calm, stay in line, and make them tell you no on the record.

Called races

Winners as called by the Associated Press, in the governor and U.S. Senate races. Alabama's two races lead the homepage banner at the top of this site. A state not listed here has not been called yet. This list is kept current on election night, about every 10 minutes.

  • Arkansas · Governor: Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R)
  • Arkansas · U.S. Senate: Tom Cotton (R)
  • California · Governor: Xavier Becerra (D)
  • Colorado · Governor: Phil Weiser (D)
  • Colorado · U.S. Senate: John Hickenlooper (D)
  • Connecticut · Governor: Ned Lamont (D)
  • Delaware · U.S. Senate: Chris Coons (D)
  • Florida · Governor: Byron Donalds (R)
  • Florida · U.S. Senate: Ashley Moody (R)
  • Georgia · Governor: Keisha Bottoms (D)
  • Georgia · U.S. Senate: Jon Ossoff (D)
  • Illinois · Governor: JB Pritzker (D)
  • Illinois · U.S. Senate: Juliana Stratton (D)
  • Kentucky · U.S. Senate: Andy Barr (R)
  • Maryland · Governor: Wes Moore (D)
  • Massachusetts · Governor: Maura Healey (D)
  • Massachusetts · U.S. Senate: Ed Markey (D)
  • New Hampshire · U.S. Senate: Chris Pappas (D)
  • New Jersey · U.S. Senate: Cory Booker (D)
  • New Mexico · Governor: Deb Haaland (D)
  • New Mexico · U.S. Senate: Ben Ray Lujan (D)
  • New York · Governor: Kathy Hochul (D)
  • North Carolina · U.S. Senate: Roy Cooper (D)
  • Ohio · Governor: Amy Acton (D)
  • Oklahoma · U.S. Senate: Kevin Hern (R)
  • Oregon · U.S. Senate: Jeff Merkley (D)
  • Pennsylvania · Governor: Josh Shapiro (D)
  • Rhode Island · Governor: Helena Foulkes (D)
  • Rhode Island · U.S. Senate: Jack Reed (D)
  • South Carolina · U.S. Senate: Annie Andrews (D)
  • Virginia · U.S. Senate: Mark Warner (D)
  • West Virginia · U.S. Senate: Shelley Moore Capito (R)
  • Wyoming · Governor: Eric Barlow (R)
  • Wyoming · U.S. Senate: Harriet Hageman (R)

List as of 10:02 PM CT, November 3, 2026. Every race not listed is still being counted; live results for all 50 states are on the AP election board.

Your rights at the polls

These are the rights every voter walks in with. The Alabama notes apply at Alabama polls; the rest are federal and hold everywhere in the United States.

  • Photo ID in Alabama. Alabama polls require an acceptable photo ID. If you do not have one, a free Alabama photo voter ID card is available from the Alabama Secretary of State's office or your county Board of Registrars.
  • A provisional ballot is your backstop. If your name is not on the voter list, or there is a problem with your registration, you have the right to a provisional ballot instead of being turned away. Ask for one, and ask how to confirm it was counted. In Alabama, if you vote provisionally over ID, your vote counts if you present an acceptable photo ID to your county Board of Registrars by 5:00 p.m. on the Friday after Election Day.
  • In line means you vote. If you are in line when the polls close, stay in line. You have the right to cast your ballot.
  • A mistake is fixable. If you mark your ballot wrong, ask a poll worker for a new one. You never have to live with a spoiled ballot.
  • Help in the booth. If you need help reading or marking your ballot because of a disability or difficulty reading, you may choose a person to assist you, as long as that person is not your employer or an officer of your union.
  • Time off work in Alabama. Alabama law (Ala. Code § 17-1-5) lets you take up to one hour away from work, unpaid, to vote, unless your schedule already leaves you two hours free while the polls are open. Give your employer reasonable notice.
  • Intimidation is a crime. Threatening, coercing, or interfering with voters is a federal crime. If it happens to you, or you see it happen: Election Protection hotline, 866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683), or the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, 1-800-253-3931.

Rules cited: Help America Vote Act (provisional ballots), Voting Rights Act § 208 (assistance), 52 U.S.C. § 10101 and 18 U.S.C. § 594 (intimidation), Alabama Code §§ 17-1-5 and 17-9-30 (leave and provisional ID cure).