Ready or not, election season in the US starts soon. The first ballots will go out in just two weeks
It may feel like the presidential elections is still far away. It is not.
There are just over 70 days left until Election Day on November 5, but important dates, events and political developments are making it fly by. Think of it this way: the period between now and then is about the same length as the summer break from school in most parts of the country.
In just two weeks, on September 6, the first mail-in ballots will be sent to voters. The first presidential debate is scheduled for September 10. Former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, is expected to be convicted in his New York hush money case on September 18. And in some states, voting can start as early as September 20.
Here’s a look at why the calendar will be moving quickly now that the Democratic And Republican conventions are packaged.
The first batch of ballots typically sent are to military and overseas voters, which federal law requires at least 45 days before an election, which this year falls on Sept. 21.
Some states are starting earlier. North Carolina will begin sending mail-in ballots to all voters who request them, including military personnel and voters abroad, in just two weeks, on Sept. 6.
Voter registration deadlines vary by state, with most falling between eight and 30 days before the election, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The deadline is Oct. 7 in Georgia, one of this year’s most prominent presidential battlegrounds.
Nearly all states offer some version of in-person voting, though the rules and dates vary widely. In Pennsylvania, another key presidential battleground state, voters can go to their local elections office to request, fill out and return a mail ballot starting Sept. 16. For those counting, that’s about three weeks from now.
The debate over the Democratic and Republican presidential and vice presidential candidates has been a point of contention for weeks. But for now, two confrontations are on the agenda.
Trump and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris have accepted an invitation from ABC News to debate 10 sept. in Philadelphia.
Harris’ vice presidential nominee, Tim Walz, and Trump’s vice presidential nominee, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, have agreed to a debate on Oct. 1, hosted by CBS News in New York City.
Harris predicted a possible second debate with Trump, but her proposal appeared to be contingent on the GOP candidate participating in the Sept. 10 debate. Trump has proposed three presidential debates with different television networks.
Vance has challenged Walz to a second vice presidential debate on September 18, although that has not yet been set.
Trump is expected to be sentenced in his hush money case on September 18, though his lawyers have asked the judge to delay the procedure until after Election Day. A decision is expected in early September.
In a letter last week to Judge Juan M. Merchan, Trump’s lawyers suggested that going ahead with the sentencing as scheduled, some seven weeks before Election Day, would amount to election interference. On Sept. 16, Merchan is expected to rule on Trump’s request to overturn the guilty verdict and dismiss the case in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s July ruling on presidential immunity.
Trump was convicted in May on 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up a $130,000 hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 presidential election. Falsifying business records is punishable by up to four years in prison. Other possible penalties include probation, a fine or parole, with Trump having to stay out of trouble to avoid additional punishment.
On September 6, the 2nd U.S. Court of Appeals will hear arguments in Trump’s appeal of a jury verdict last year that ordered him to pay $5 million to writer E. Jean Carroll after he found him liable for sexual assault and defamation. Trump is also appealing a ruling in a second lawsuit in January in which a jury found him liable for additional defamation claims and ordered him to pay Carroll $83.3 million. Trump’s lawyers have until Sept. 13 to file a brief in that appeal.
On September 26, a New York appeals court will hear oral arguments in Trump’s challenge to a nearly $500 million debt. civil fraud judgment in Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit against him. The court typically rules about a month after arguments, meaning a decision could come before the November election. Trump’s lawyers argue that a judge’s Feb. 16 finding that the former president lied about his wealth for years as he built his real estate empire was “erroneous” and “outrageous.” Attorneys for the state responded in court documents this week that there is “overwhelming evidence” to support the ruling.
A Georgia lawsuit accusing Trump and 18 others in a sprawling scheme to overturn his 2020 loss in the state is stuck without any trial taking place before the elections.
Federal prosecutors have filed two criminal cases against Trump, but one was dismissed by a judge last month and the other is likely to be reviewed following the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling that granted broad immunity on former presidents for official acts performed while in office.
Special counsel Jack Smith has appealed U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon’s dismissal of an indictment accusing Trump of the hoarding of secret documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and thwarting the FBI’s efforts to get them back. But even if a federal appeals court reopens the case and overturns the judge’s ruling that Smith’s appointment was unconstitutional, there’s no chance of a trial this year.
In light of the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling, it is now up to a federal judge in Washington to decide what charges to pursue in a separate case accusing Trump of conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election can remain part of the prosecution and which should be dismissed. Deciding which acts are official and which are not will likely be a difficult process.
Even before the first votes are cast, both sides are preparing to fight over the ballot box.
Fights over election rules have become a fixture of American democracy, but they are expected to reach new heights this year. Trump installed his own leadership team at the Republican National Committee, including a director of election integrity who helped him overturn Biden’s 2020 victory. The RNC has a blizzard of lawsuits challenging voting rules and promises of more to come.
Democrats are also mobilizing and assembling a robust legal team. Among other things, they are opposing GOP efforts to purge some inactive voters or noncitizens from the voter rolls, arguing that legal voters will be swept up in the purges.
Republicans have particularly stepped up their rhetoric about the specter of non-citizens votingalthough repeated studies have shown that this almost never happens. Some also urge that local electoral councils be given the opportunity to refuse to certify election results.
All indications are that these efforts are laying the groundwork for Trump to once again claim the election was stolen from him if he loses and to attempt to thwart the will of the voters. But there’s no way to know whether that will happen until the votes are cast.
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Associated Press writers Kate Brumback and Christina A. Cassidy in Atlanta, Meg Kinnard in Chicago, Nicholas Riccardi in Denver, Michael R. Sisak in New York and Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report. AP elections researcher Ryan Dubicki in New York also contributed.