How Well Do You Know The U.S. Elections System?

Online voter registration is not offered in all states. Currently, voters in 20 states—nearly half the eligible voting population—can register entirely online. Only two states offered this service in 2008.

Eligibility of voters may be uncertain for a number of reasons—for example, their names do not appear on voter lists or they do not have the necessary identification. In the 2012 presidential election, states counted approximately 73 percent of the 2.7 million provisional ballots cast. During the midterm election in 2010, states counted 66 percent of nearly 1.1 million provisional ballots cast.

The NVRA requires that motor vehicle and other state agencies offer citizens the chance to register to vote or update their registrations when they get or renew their driver’s licenses. This part of the law is known as “Motor Voter.”

India’s 2014 national election was the largest in world history. During a five-week period, 553,801,801 voters participated.

Ratification of this amendment in 1920 guaranteed women’s suffrage nationwide, though several states had granted women the right to vote earlier.

In many countries in Latin America and around the world, the sale of alcohol is prohibited on or before Election Day. These bans may be intended to temper hooliganism and electoral tensions, but it's sometimes argued that their purpose is to prevent voters from casting ballots while under the influence. Earlier this year, South Carolina became the last U.S. state to lift a ban on the sale of alcohol on Election Day.

North Dakota was the top-performing state in 2008, 2010, and 2012. As the only state that does not require voter registration, it issues no provisional ballots and has no registration applications to process. The state also has one of the lowest rates of nonvoting resulting from problems with registration or absentee ballots.

This politically ambitious feline from Virginia ran against Tim Kaine and George Allen for a U.S. Senate seat in 2012. Kaine won the election, but Hank earned third place with nearly 7,000 write-in votes. Marko the donkey and Bosco the dog are politically active figures in Varna, Bulgaria, and Sunol, California, respectively. To our knowledge, no plant has ever qualified for a ballot.

This turnout was down from 63 percent for the 2008 presidential election. Such a decline is typical; on average, voter turnout is 20 percentage points lower for midterm than for presidential elections. Many factors can influence turnout, including the competitiveness of the races, the scale of the election (local, statewide, or national), and even the weather.

In no state does an attorney general serve as the chief election official. The New Jersey attorney general used to be the chief election official of the state, but that responsibility was transferred to the secretary of state in 2008.