Question

The federal government protects the right to vote, whereas the state government regulates the ballots

Answer 1

That’s broadly correct but a bit simplified — federal and state governments share responsibility for voting, with different roles and limits.

High-level summary
- States run elections. They set most rules for how ballots are created, how votes are cast and counted, how candidates qualify for the ballot, and how elections are administered and certified.
- The federal government protects and enforces fundamental voting rights. The U.S. Constitution and federal statutes (and federal courts) limit what states may do and provide remedies when rights are violated.

Typical federal roles/authority
- Constitutional protections: 14th Amendment (equal protection, due process), 15th (race), 19th (sex), 24th (poll tax), 26th (age—minimum 18).
- Federal statutes: Voting Rights Act (prohibits discriminatory practices), National Voter Registration Act (motor-voter), Help America Vote Act (HAVA) (standards, funding, modernizing voting systems), federal criminal laws against voter intimidation and fraud.
- Enforcement: U.S. Department of Justice and federal courts can challenge state practices that violate federal law or the Constitution.

Typical state roles/authority
- Administer elections: registration processes, ballot design and printing, polling places, early/absentee voting rules, voter ID requirements, precincting, counting, certification, and recount procedures.
- Candidate access: ballot access rules, primary systems, petition requirements.
- Eligibility details: residency, proof of identity, treatment of people with felony convictions (subject to state law, constrained by federal constitutional protections).

How they interact
- States have broad authority to run elections, but federal law and the Constitution can override or constrain state rules that discriminate, unduly burden the right to vote, or violate equal protection.
- Federal laws often set minimum standards and sometimes provide funding or technical requirements (HAVA), but day‑to‑day administration is state/local.
- Federal courts resolve disputes when state rules conflict with federal protections (e.g., Section 2 VRA cases, equal‑protection challenges like Bush v. Gore).

If you want, I can point to the key statutes and court cases, or explain how a specific state rule (e.g., voter ID, felon disenfranchisement, absentee ballot rules) is treated under federal law.