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Election Day is upon us. Now the real work begins.
For months, election officials, politicians, lawyers, law enforcement leaders, journalists, professors and armchair pundits have been wrestling with a big unknown: What will happen on Election Day? And what comes after?
The list of worries is long, and Votebeat has been reporting on them for months. Will Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents disrupt voting? Will federal agents attempt to seize ballots? Will hackers attempt to infiltrate sensitive election systems? Will voting machine failures create widespread problems? Will the Trump administration’s accusations of noncitizen voting feed post-election court challenges?
We will finally get some answers in the week ahead. The Votebeat newsroom will be keeping an eye on key races stretching from Alaska to Maine, and every state in between.
On the national level, I will be looking out for potential friction between the Trump administration and states President Donald Trump has put in his crosshairs, including California, Washington, and Alaska. We will be watching for any problems with voting to see if there are serious issues. And I will be working with my Votebeat colleagues across the country, who all have a full plate. Here’s a look at what each of them will be watching.
Arizona
As everyone knows, there’s rarely a quiet election in the saguaro-dotted deserts of Arizona. In recent weeks, an old feud between top election officials in populous Maricopa County has again reared its ugly head, and I’ll be watching to see if the situation impacts voting or ballot tallying processes.
Statewide, I’m waiting to see whether the popularity of a new voting option designed to speed up counting holds among general election voters. I’m also eagerly awaiting results for key races and monitoring stories in rural areas of the state, including how a new type of ballot paper plays in Mohave County and whether voting will run smoothly after a disastrous 2024 election in Apache County.
- Sasha Hupka
Michigan
In Michigan, I’m watching the federal response to our Senate race. The seat is critical for both parties to have control of the Senate, but a Democratic victory could come with accusations of voter fraud in a race that has already been packed with racism and Islamophobia. The federal government has shown it has its eye on Wayne County, and it looks like Detroit is of special interest as the DOJ is sending federal monitors there for the second consecutive election.
Accusations from the president and others could have a trickledown effect on trust in the other critical races on the ballot. Michigan is voting in a new governor, a new secretary of state, the entire state legislature and a slew of other key races. I’m also curious to see what Michiganders might expect from their election policy if either party is able to claim a trifecta. `
- Hayley Harding
Pennsylvania
In Pennsylvania, I’m focused on three things headed into Election Day. First, we all know the U.S. Department of Justice has been taking an aggressive approach on voting issues. While it’s by no means uncommon to have Justice Department monitors at the polls, given that context — and the reports of their activity in Wyoming earlier this year — I’ll be keeping an eye out for reports on any issues here. Second, we have some closely watched (and close, polling-wise) congressional races. I’ll be watching the margin with a keen eye toward the possibility of recounts or questions about the results. Finally, Democrats have a path to take trifecta control of state government this year. If it happens, that could mean movement in a number of policy areas, including the all-but-dead push for election reform.
- Carter Walker
Texas
In Texas, polls show statewide races are expected to be closer than they have been in decades, and voter turnout so far has been high. I’ll be watching whether any voters who may have been caught in the state’s backlog of thousands of voter registration records are having trouble casting a ballot.
In Tarrant County, voters are turning out in record numbers but local officials there earlier this year cut nearly half of available polling locations on Election Day. The long lines for voting in Tarrant have eased in the past few days, but I’ll be keeping an eye on whether the reduction of polling sites has an impact on Tuesday.
On election night, as officials across the state prepare to report results, I’ll be monitoring any problems that may pop up with the functioning of the state’s voter registration and election management system, known as TEAM. For more than a year, election officials have reported the system is slow and prevents them from completing essential tasks, and as a result, they’ve had to find time-consuming workarounds.
- Natalia Contreras
Wisconsin
In Wisconsin, my primary focus will be how Milwaukee administers elections after a couple high-profile snafus in recent years. I’ll be at the city’s absentee ballot processing center, where most of those errors have taken place. From Milwaukee, I’ll also be monitoring two potential issues that clerks and voters have been fretting over this election: mail delays and the potential for federal interference in elections. But I’ll also keep my eyes peeled for other issues that may come up across the 1,850 municipalities running elections here.
- Alexander Shur
Dion Nissenbaum is Votebeat’s senior national reporter and is based in Houston. Contact Dion at dnissenbaum@votebeat.org.
