The futures file · every date somebody in power set, and what was standing there when it arrived

3 November 2026Set

Election Day, set by statute

The date is set by a statute passed in 1872: the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November. The maps were set more recently. Texas drew for five more seats at his request, California answered with five, and Indiana's own Republican senators voted their map down, 31 to 19.

The Justice Department has asked at least 48 states and Washington for their voter files and sued the 30 that declined; 23 of those suits have been dismissed. He has said this year both that he is not allowed to run and that he intends to run for a fourth term. Neither is on today's ballot. The House is.

This page is a row in the futures file. It changes when the date does: set, then kept, moved or missed. A date that came due with nobody to settle it says so, in public, until somebody settles it. The whole timeline runs at the foot of the front page.