A Conversation with an Election Expert: Breaking Down This Year’s Election Process

Voting should be a safe, fair, stress-free process for everyone. Whether you mail your ballot early or head to the polls in person, your vote must be counted and your voice heard. Ahead of Election Day, however, voters may be filled with skepticism and concern as they worry about potential ballot seizures, vote tampering, and even ICE showing up nearby local polling places.

Loyola Law School professor Justin Levitt is addressing that apprehension. Levitt has worked in the elections space for almost 25 years across government departments, academia, and nonprofits. He served as the White House’s first senior policy advisor for democracy and voting rights from 2021–2022 and as a deputy assistant attorney general in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice from 2015–2017. And while he acknowledges the many anxieties around voting in 2026, he assures readers that this Election Day will be typical and offers practical tips and advice to make a voting plan.

Levitt spoke with Arman Abrishamchian, rapid response communications strategist at the ACLU, about what happens behind the scenes after you cast your ballot, steps to make sure your vote counts, and helpful resources to prepare for Election Day. The conversation with Levitt has been edited for length and clarity.

If you care about any policy whatsoever — health care, education, national security, jobs, the economy, potholes on the road, trash pickup — then you care about free and fair elections. The way that we decide to do things and not to do things together in this country is through elections. We put ourselves in charge of building the world that we want to live in, and all of that starts with having an election that reliably counts the preferences of the public.

There is no better way to experience small “d” democracy than seeing neighbors help neighbors, cast their votes, and express their preferences. It is the most reassuring thing.

One, make a plan to vote. It doesn’t have to be big and complicated, but understand how you’re going to actually do it, whether you vote early, in person, or by mail. Two, if you have the time and it’s available in your area, vote early. The earlier that you get your ballot in, the more sure you can be that there’ll be absolutely no disruption.

Behind the scenes at an election office, there are plenty of things that are designed to make sure election officials record your ballot as you intended. First, if you’re submitting a ballot by mail, they’re going to check the envelope and make sure that the person who says they’re casting the ballot actually cast the ballot. Then, they’re going to open it up and make sure that there aren’t mistakes or tears or coffee stains. Then, they’re going to tabulate those preferences, often with an audit to make sure that the machines get the answer right. And then there are going to be a number of different checks and safeguards — belts and suspenders designed to make sure that when you cast your ballot, it’s registered.

I’m worried about people being worried about ICE at the polls. I’m worried that people will be so anxious that they won’t want to participate, that they’ll give up their own voice and their own agency. But this country is very, very big — even individual cities are very big — with 100,000 polling places spread out over 3.8 million square miles. The logistics make our elections hard to disrupt. You haven’t heard anything at all about disruptions for the more than 40 million people who have already voted early, and that’s because it’s been remarkably unremarkable.

For the vast majority of Americans, the experience at the polls will be spectacularly, delightfully normal. And for those still worried, I think there is comfort in community. Courage is contagious, and if people understand that they can go with others to the polls, I think what they’ll find is very much what they’re used to.

I can tell you that election officials this year are as prepared as they have ever been so that you don’t have to be. They’re planning ahead. They know what they’re going to do in every possible scenario so that the process for you as a voter is as smooth as it regularly is.

I vote by mail. I like dropping my ballot off at the drop box because it makes me feel good. I vote early because on Election Day I’m driving around, dropping off coffee and donuts for poll workers. We have a bunch of students at Loyola Law School who are going to be serving as poll workers in the election, and so I get to play poll worker Santa.

None of this is normal and I don’t want to gaslight you into pretending it’s not happening. But there’s a big difference between attempts to disrupt the election process and those attempts working. And I can tell you across the board, they haven’t been working. They’re not working and they’re not going to work.

It’s disturbing we’re even having these conversations. This is not a normal conversation for normal times. But the president and this administration are trying to project power they do not have. And in doing that, they’re trying to make us forget that we’re in charge here, that this election’s up to us, that we have agency. The president just doesn’t have the knobs or levers or buttons to “magic” away Americans’ ability to cast ballots locally and to express their preferences about who we want to lead us. These are our elections. And all of the noise in the world, if we can just shut out the noise, isn’t going to change that.

I used to work at the Justice Department, and they used to be a pretty feared litigating entity. But I’ll tell you, the reason that the Department of Justice is so feared and respected isn’t the name on the outside of the building; it’s the quality of the work inside. And tragically, that quality has changed. Over the last two years, a lot of people who actually know what they’re doing have left, and that’s left a lot of people who don’t know what they’re doing. That’s disturbing for the long-term capacity of the department, but it’s manifested in a real lack of power in the courts.

The Department of Justice really does its work when the courts listen, and the courts aren’t buying what they’re selling, across the board. Judges appointed by Democrats, by Republicans, even by this president aren’t buying what the Department of Justice is selling. They’ve got a lot of bluster and a lot of noise, but they’re not producing many results.

The best source of information is the most trusted source of information: your local election officials. If you’ve got questions, they’re the best place to turn.

For people looking to understand more about how the elections are going to work and how you can make sure that people in your community are able to express their voices at the polls, the ACLU compiled frequently asked questions around voting. It’s a wonderful way to spend time right before Election Day understanding how the process is going to work.