States run federal elections, choosing the 'Times, Places and Manner', but Congress may 'make or alter' those rules for congressional races. American elections are decentralized by constitutional design: there is no single national election authority.
Read the clause itself, verbatim and in plain language, in the in-app Constitution.
The states, subject to congressional override for federal elections
State legislatures set registration, ballot, and counting rules, administered by state and county officials. Congress has used its override sparingly but decisively: a uniform Election Day (1845), the Voting Rights Act's protections, the Help America Vote Act's standards, and the certificationThe official act of finalizing election results: local canvass, state certificate, and, for President, the congressional count on January 6.Full definition in the glossary's certification rules. Constitutional amendments (15th, 19th, 24th, 26th) bound both layers.
Constitution Annotated, Elections Clause
Terms to know: apportionmentThe once-a-decade division of the House's 435 seats among the states by census population. Redistricting is the states then drawing the district lines.Full definition in the glossary · certificationThe official act of finalizing election results: local canvass, state certificate, and, for President, the congressional count on January 6.Full definition in the glossary · general electionThe binding November election among the parties' nominees (and independents). Federal law fixes it on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November.Full definition in the glossary
