Americans will go to the polls on November 8 to cast their votes for the next president. That part’s simple. But the steps to assure every vote is counted properly and that the process is fair and transparent is a bit more complicated.

Our two-minute video will show you how states run elections (even Alaska and Hawaii; they were too far off the map for our magic hand to draw) and how all the votes are tallied.

Graphic reading "Elections 2016" (State Dept./J. Maruszewski)
(State Dept./J. Maruszewski)