Who runs U.S. elections?

The Constitution leaves most decisions about elections to the states. The Elections Clause, in Article I, Section 4, provides: "The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators."¹

The clause gives power over congressional elections to two bodies: state legislatures, which set the rules, and Congress, which can change them by passing a law. The president is not mentioned in it. The Congressional Research Service describes the Constitution as recognizing "states' primary roles in election administration" while also giving the federal government specific powers and responsibilities.²

Elections in the United States are run by "thousands of state and local systems rather than a single, unified national system," according to the Congressional Research Service. States usually make the rules, and localities, usually counties and in New England often towns, carry them out. Federal law requires each state to designate a chief election official.³

Local officials do most of the hands-on work. In the research service's description, they "add eligible voters to the voter rolls; design and print ballots; recruit and train poll workers; select and prepare polling places; store and transport voting equipment; and count, canvass, and report election results."³ Those choices can become disputes of their own. In September 2026, commissioners in Tarrant County, Texas, voted 3 to 2 to approve 224 Election Day polling sites, down from 316 in the 2022 midterms, while the county's elections administrator said several earlier sites could not be used.⁴

Congress has also set some national rules. The Congressional Research Service lists the main ones. The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 requires states to offer voter registration at motor vehicle and social service agencies and regulates how they remove names from the rolls. The Help America Vote Act of 2002 requires statewide voter registration databases and provisional ballots for voters whose eligibility is unclear. The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act protects absentee voting by service members and overseas citizens, and the Voting Rights Act bars discrimination in voting based on race, color or language.²

Even so, "states, territories, and local election jurisdictions (often counties) do most of the work of administering federal elections," the research service says, and they "also retain most authority over how those elections are conducted." The federal government mainly supports them and makes sure they follow federal law. Among federal agencies, the Election Assistance Commission distributes federal funding and information to the states, and the FBI investigates election crimes.²

Recent court fights over a presidential election order have turned on what Congress has authorized. On March 31, 2026, President Trump signed Executive Order 14399. It directed the Department of Homeland Security, working with the Social Security Administration, to send each state's chief election official a list of confirmed U.S. citizens, and it directed the Postmaster General to begin a rulemaking on mail ballots.⁵ The Postal Service's final rule, published August 26, requires election officials to use ballot envelopes that meet postal standards, enroll voters through a federal portal and submit outgoing ballot mail for verification.⁶

Two federal judges blocked the rule. Judge Indira Talwani in Massachusetts barred its mandatory provisions for elections on or before November 3, 2026.⁷ In a separate case, Judge Carl J. Nichols in Washington wrote that "The key portions of the Rule exceed any conception of the outer bounds of these authorities," referring to the Postal Service's powers under federal law.⁸ On September 14, the Supreme Court refused to pause Judge Talwani's order. Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote that applying the rule in 2026 would be arbitrary "because state and local election officials do not have sufficient time to reasonably implement the rule before the elections." Justice Samuel Alito, joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, dissented, writing that even if the rule regulates elections, "Congress may create such rules under the Elections Clause" and may authorize the Postal Service to issue them.⁹

Federal criminal law limits armed federal agents at voting sites. Under 18 U.S.C. 592, any federal military or civil officer who "orders, brings, keeps, or has under his authority or control any troops or armed men at any place where a general or special election is held, unless such force be necessary to repel armed enemies of the United States," faces a fine and up to five years in prison.¹⁰ Federal law also bars intimidating, threatening or coercing voters.²

How those laws apply to immigration agents is disputed. The Brennan Center for Justice argues that "sending ICE or any other armed federal agents to the polls is illegal."¹¹ Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said on September 1, 2026, that ICE would be at a polling place only "if there is a threat to that polling place or we're serving a warrant on someone that we have been actively tracking down."¹² LULAC and other groups sued the department on September 10, asking a federal court to rule that the administration's position violates the statute.¹³

State law governs local officials and police. On September 24, 2026, the California Supreme Court ruled that the Riverside County sheriff's seizure of about 650,000 ballots from the county registrar was unlawful, because state law provides that "[i]n no event" shall voted ballots "be taken from the custody of the elections official."¹⁴