Our new book is The Comeback: The 2024 Elections and American Politics.
Today, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) released the 2024 Election Administration and Voting Survey (EAVS) report, the nation’s most comprehensive source of election administration data. It covers topics such as voter participation, voter registration, voter list maintenance, and election technology, as well as early and Election Day polling place operations for the general election. These results reflect a 100% response rate from all 50 states, five U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia.
Nearly 65% of the citizen voting age population participated in the general election, resulting in more than 158 million counted ballots. Over 72% of voters cast their votes in person at a voting location, either before Election Day or on Election Day. Over 98% of election jurisdictions used voting equipment that has voters mark a paper ballot or produces an auditable paper record of voters’ ballot preferences.
The 2024 EAVS Comprehensive Report and data, as well as previous EAVS reports can be found here.
Other key findings from the 2024 EAVS include:
Voter Registration
Voting Methods
- More than 211 million citizens were active registered voters for the 2024 general election — 86.6% of the citizen voting age population.
- State motor vehicle offices and automatic voter registration were the two most used methods of voter registration. Motor vehicle offices accounted for 32.2% of transactions processed. Automatic voter registration was used for 26.4% of transactions.
- States reported sending nearly 40 million confirmation notices as part of efforts to maintain accurate voter rolls. Accurate voter list maintenance is an essential part of a well-functioning voter registration system — having accurate lists helps reduce costs, decreases wait times and ensures that only voters eligible to vote can do so. Confirmation notices help ensure that voters are not removed in error.
Voting Systems and Election Supporting Technology
- In-person voting continued to be the most common voting method in the 2024 general election, with over 70% of voters choosing to cast their ballots in person. And 35.2% voted in person before Election Day, while 37.4% voted in person on Election Day.
- Voting by mail decreased to about 30% of total ballots cast in the 2024 election. Despite this shift, election officials continue to implement security measures to ensure this option is secure. Mail ballots are protected by state laws that determine how they must be filled out and returned by the voter, and then verified by election officials before they are counted.
- Over 98% of election jurisdictions used voting equipment that has voters mark a paper ballot or produces an auditable paper record of voters’ ballot preferences. The percentage of jurisdictions that reported using voting systems without a verified paper trail has decreased significantly since the 2022 general election. In the 2024 EAVS, only 80 jurisdictions in three states reported using these systems, with just one jurisdiction reporting only using this type of voting system.
Poll Workers
- Nearly 93% of states, the territories, and DC require voting system testing and certification either by statute or through a formal administrative rule or guidance. Some of these states require full EAC certification, while others require testing to federal standards or testing by a federally accredited laboratory.
- Nearly 40% of jurisdictions used electronic poll books to assist with voting, which was the highest percentage reported to date in the EAVS. Given the rise in use, the EAC recently established a Voluntary Electronic Poll Book Certification Program to evaluate and test the security, accessibility, and usability of electronic poll books across the country.
- While 47.9% of jurisdictions reported facing significant challenges in recruiting and retaining poll workers, recruitment has become easier since the last presidential election. More than 770,000 individuals served as poll workers for the 2024 general election, the majority of which were over 61 years old.
