Whether you're ready or not, election season in the United States is about to begin; the first ballots will be sent out in just a few days

AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell Voters cast their ballots for the Florida primary election in South Miami, Florida, on Aug. 20.

You might think that the presidential election is still far away. This is not the case.

Election Day, November 5, is only about two months away, and major political dates, events and developments will make it fly by. The time between now and then will be as short as the summer school holidays in most parts of the country.

The first mail-in ballots will be sent to voters this Friday. The first presidential debate is scheduled for September 10. Former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, is scheduled to be sentenced in the New York bribery case on September 18. And early in-person voting will begin as early as September 20 in some states.

Here’s a look at why the calendar will move quickly, with the Democratic and Republican conventions over and Labor Day marking the traditional start of the campaign season.

Who is ready to vote?

The first ballots sent out are typically for military and overseas voters. Under federal law, that must happen at least 45 days before the election, which this year will be held on Sept. 21.

Some states are starting earlier. North Carolina will begin sending mail-in ballots to all voters who request them, including military personnel and overseas voters, on September 6.

Voter registration deadlines vary by state, with most typically between eight and 30 days before the election, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The deadline is Oct. 7 in Georgia, one of the most important presidential battlegrounds of the year.

Nearly every state offers some form of in-person voting, though the rules and dates vary widely. In Pennsylvania, another key swing state, voters can go to their local election office to request, fill out and return an absentee ballot starting Sept. 16. For those counting, it will take just over two weeks.

Gloves come off

Whether, where and under what rules the Democratic and Republican presidential and vice presidential candidates will debate has been a contentious issue for weeks. But for now, two showdowns are on the cards.

Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris have accepted an invitation from ABC News to debate on September 10 in Philadelphia.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’ vice presidential pick, and Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, Trump’s pick, have agreed to participate in an Oct. 1 debate hosted by CBS News in New York.

Harris has scheduled a possible second debate with Trump, but her proposal appears to hinge on the Republican nominee’s participation in the Sept. 10 debate. Trump has proposed three presidential debates with different television networks.

Vance has challenged Walz to another vice presidential debate on September 18, although a date has not been set.

Possible criminal conviction for Trump

Mr Trump’s trial in his domestic corruption case is due on September 18, but his lawyers have asked the judge to postpone the proceedings until after Election Day. A decision is expected early this month.

In a letter to Judge Juan M. Merchan, Trump’s lawyers suggested that holding the trial as scheduled, about seven weeks before Election Day, would amount to election interference. On September 16, Merchan is expected to rule on Trump’s request to overturn the guilty verdict and dismiss the case because of the U.S. Supreme Court’s July ruling on presidential immunity.

In May, Trump was convicted of 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 presidential election. Falsifying business records carries a possible sentence of up to four years in prison. Other possible penalties include probation, a fine or a conditional discharge that would require Trump to stay out of trouble to avoid further punishment.

Next steps in Trump’s term

other cases in New York

On Friday, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments in Trump’s appeal of a jury verdict last year that ordered him to pay $5 million to writer E. Jean Carroll after finding him guilty of sexual assault and defamation against her. Trump is also appealing a second trial verdict in January, in which a jury found him liable on new defamation charges and ordered him to pay Carroll $83.3 million. Trump’s lawyers have until Sept. 13 to file a brief in that appeal.

On Sept. 26, a New York appeals court will hear oral arguments in Trump’s challenge to a nearly $500 million civil fraud judgment in the lawsuit filed against him by state Attorney General Letitia James. The court typically rules about a month after oral arguments, meaning a decision could be made before the November election. Trump’s lawyers argue that the judge’s Feb. 16 ruling that the former president lied for years about his wealth as he built his real estate empire was “erroneous” and “egregious.” State lawyers responded in court papers this week that there is “overwhelming evidence” to support the verdict.

What about the Trump election and the document files?

A Georgia court case charging Trump and 18 others as part of a sweeping effort to overturn his 2020 defeat in the state has stalled and has no chance of going to trial before the election.

Federal prosecutors have filed two criminal charges against Trump, but one was dismissed by a judge last month and the other is likely to be overturned by a recent U.S. Supreme Court opinion that gave former presidents broad immunity for official acts they perform in office.

Special counsel Jack Smith has appealed U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon’s dismissal of an indictment accusing Trump of hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and obstructing the FBI’s efforts to retrieve them. But even if a federal appeals court reinstates the case and overturns the judge’s ruling that Smith’s appointment was unconstitutional, there is no chance of a trial this year.

In light of the Supreme Court’s ruling on immunity, a federal judge in Washington must now decide which allegations in a separate case accusing Trump of plotting to overturn the 2020 election can remain within the scope of the indictment and which should be dismissed. Determining which acts are official and which are not is likely to be an arduous process.

Conflicts over voting

and the election

Even before the first ballots are cast, both sides are preparing to fight over the vote.

Battles over voting rules have become a staple of American democracy, but they are likely to reach new heights this year. Trump has installed his own leadership team at the Republican National Committee, including an election integrity director who helped him try to overturn Biden’s 2020 victory. The RNC has filed a flurry of lawsuits challenging voting rules and promises more are on the way.

Democrats are also mobilizing and building a strong legal team. They are particularly opposed to Republican efforts to remove some inactive or non-citizen voters from the electoral rolls, arguing that legal voters will be caught in the purges.

Republicans have particularly stepped up their rhetoric on the specter of noncitizen voting, even though repeated surveys have shown that it almost never happens. Some are also pushing to give local election boards the power to refuse to certify election results.

All indications are that these efforts are setting the stage for Trump to once again claim the election was stolen from him if he loses and to try to overturn the will of the voters. But there is no way to know whether that will happen until ballots are cast.

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