The 2026 United States election guide
The short answer
The next regularly scheduled federal general election is a midterm election with all seats in the House of Representatives, roughly one third of the Senate, and many state and local offices on the ballot. Registration deadlines and voting rules come from your state, not from any national calendar.
Current federal cycle
2026 United States federal general election
Value withheld Jurisdiction: United States Fact type: scheduled election date
The date is withheld until it is reverified
Verification of this value is overdue, so the value is withheld. Use the official source below to confirm it.
- Last verified
- August 29, 2026 at 00:00 UTC
- Verified by
- WomanVoters editorial review
- Next review due
- September 2, 2026 at 00:00 UTC
- Primary source
- Federal Election Commission, fec.gov
- Archived after
- November 4, 2026
Go straight to the official source
Official source
Open the state and territory registration directory
Registration and voting instructions maintained for every state and territory.
Open the state and territory registration directory
This link leaves WomanVoters and opens the official site. We never ask for the personal details the official system requires.
Official source
Find your state or territory election office
Contact directory for the office that administers elections where you live.
Find your state or territory election office
This link leaves WomanVoters and opens the official site. We never ask for the personal details the official system requires.
Official source
Open FEC federal election information
Official federal election dates and the commission record of federal results.
Open FEC federal election information
This link leaves WomanVoters and opens the official site. We never ask for the personal details the official system requires.
What is on the ballot
All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are elected every two years. About one third of Senate seats are contested in each cycle. Beyond the federal contests, most states hold elections for statewide offices, legislative seats, judgeships, county and municipal offices, and ballot measures. The only reliable list of what appears on your ballot is the official sample ballot for your precinct, explained in our sample ballot guide.
Do these three things first
- Confirm your registration. Use the official status lookup for your jurisdiction.
- Find your deadlines. Registration, mail ballot request, and mail ballot return deadlines are set by your state. Use the official state directory linked above.
- Choose how you will vote. Compare early voting, voting by mail, and voting at your polling place.
How this page handles time-sensitive facts
The election date shown above carries its own verification record: the primary source, the time it was last verified by a person, and the time the next review is due. If that review becomes overdue, the value disappears from this page automatically and the official link takes its place. We would rather show you a government link than an unverified date.
After the election
Election night totals are unofficial. Results change for days while eligible ballots are processed, and they become official at certification. See official election results and how canvass and certification work.
When this cycle is finished, this page is archived with a visible notice, its action buttons are removed, and the current election route points to the next verified cycle.
Questions worth asking your election office
- What is my registration deadline, and does it depend on a postmark?
- What are the first and last days of early voting in my jurisdiction?
- What is the mail ballot request deadline and the return deadline?
- Which state and local offices are on my ballot this year?
What the official record shows
What a midterm ballot contains
In a federal midterm, every seat in the House of Representatives is up, about one third of Senate seats are up, and no presidential contest appears. Many states also elect governors, other statewide officers, legislators, judges, and local offices, and many place ballot measures before voters.
Federal dates and state rules are set separately
The Federal Election Commission publishes the regularly scheduled federal general election date. Primary dates, runoff rules, registration deadlines, early voting windows, and mail ballot deadlines are set by each state and territory.
Our perspective
Midterms decide the offices that touch daily life
Turnout in midterm years is usually lower than in presidential years, while the offices on the ballot include the legislatures, governors, attorneys general, prosecutors, and school boards that set policy on health, schooling, wages, and safety. The gap between attention and consequence is the whole argument for treating a midterm seriously.
This panel states what we believe. It is labeled, it is separate from the record above, and it never changes the voting instructions on this site.
The strongest argument against our view
A fair response is that a single vote in a large electorate rarely changes an outcome, and that people with limited time are being asked to research dozens of contests. We do not claim any one vote decides an election. We claim that the offices on this ballot make decisions that are hard to reverse, and that the research burden is lighter when you start from the official sample ballot.
What remains uncertain
Primary dates, runoff schedules, and special elections change during a cycle, and a court order can alter a state rule late. We do not publish state deadlines on this page, because they change independently in fifty-six jurisdictions.
Sources
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Federal Election Commission
Election results and voting information
Official federal election dates and the commission record of federal results.
-
United States Election Assistance Commission
Register and vote in your state
Registration and voting instructions maintained for every state and territory.
-
USAGov, General Services Administration
Where official results are published and why totals keep changing.
-
USAGov, General Services Administration
State and territory election offices
Contact directory for the office that administers elections where you live.
Change history
This page has not been substantively changed since it was published on August 29, 2026.
Found an error? Report it and read the correction log.
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