Voter registration in the United States facts for kids

Voter registration in the United States is how people sign up to vote in elections across the country. This includes elections for the president, state leaders, and local city officials. Almost every state requires you to register before you can vote. The only state that doesn't require it for state and federal elections is North Dakota, though some cities there do.

When you register, your information is usually handled by your county or city government. Most states have a deadline to register, usually a few weeks before an election. But some states let people register and vote on the same day! This is called "Election Day" or "same-day" voter registration.

Some people believe that these registration rules make it harder for certain groups to vote, which can lead to fewer people participating in elections. For example, some people worry that registering to vote might mean they have to serve on a jury or be called for military service. However, many of these worries are not true, or they only apply in certain places.

In 2012, a study showed that about 24% of people who could vote in the U.S. were not registered. That's about 51 million people! To make it easier for more people to vote, the government passed a law in the 1990s called the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. This law, also known as the "Motor Voter" law, made it possible to register when you get your driver's license, at disability centers, schools, libraries, or by mail. Some states even started automatically registering people when they get a driver's license, unless they say no. Groups like political parties also hold "voter registration drives" to help people sign up.

In many states, when you register to vote, you can also say which political party you prefer.

How Voter Registration Started

Early Rules for Voting

The idea of requiring people to register before voting began a long time ago. In 1800, Massachusetts was the first state to make voter registration a rule for everyone voting statewide. Other states like Maine, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut followed soon after.

During the 1800s, especially after the American Civil War, more states and cities started requiring voter registration. This was sometimes done to stop new immigrants in cities from voting. It wasn't until 1913 that Nebraska created the first permanent statewide list of voters, managed by an election official.

Studies show that voter registration laws made between 1880 and 1916 caused fewer people to vote, sometimes by as much as 19%.

North Dakota's Unique Approach

North Dakota is the only state that does not require voter registration for state and federal elections. They stopped requiring it in 1951. However, cities in North Dakota can still ask people to register for city elections.

Since 2004, North Dakota has required voters to show an ID when they vote. This rule has caused problems for many Native American voters. Their tribal IDs often had a post office box address instead of a street address, which is common on reservations. In 2016, the rule changed, requiring tribal IDs to have a street address to be accepted. This led to many Native Americans being unable to vote because their IDs didn't meet the new rule. Some people say this is a form of voter suppression.

A judge even said in 2016 that there was almost no voter fraud in North Dakota. Still, the ID rule continued to be an issue in the 2018 elections.

Online Registration Begins

In 2002, Arizona was the first state to offer online voter registration. Then, in 2016, Oregon became the first state to automatically register people to vote when they got their driver's license or state ID card, unless they chose not to.

Who Can Vote?

Federal Rules for Voting

The United States Congress makes laws about federal elections, but states usually handle most of the election rules. The U.S. Constitution says that states cannot stop people from voting based on their race, gender, if they paid a poll tax, or if they are 18 or older.

Generally, U.S. citizens who are 18 or older have the right to vote in federal elections. Sometimes, people who are not citizens (like "green card" holders) have accidentally registered and voted, which is against the law. Some cities, however, do allow non-citizens to vote in local city or school district elections.

Most states do not allow people who have been convicted of serious crimes (felonies) to vote for a certain period. In some states, people can't vote only while they are in prison. In others, they can't vote while on parole or probation. A few states even take away voting rights permanently or make it very hard to get them back.

How Registration Affects Voting

Why Some People Don't Vote

A 2012 study found that about a quarter of all eligible voters in the U.S. were not registered. This means about 51 million people who could vote were not signed up. The study suggested that the rules for registering might make it harder for people to vote, leading to fewer people participating in elections.

Experts like Raymond E. Wolfinger and Steven J. Rosenstone studied this in 1980. They believed that if registration rules were simpler, many more people would vote. For example, if states removed deadlines, opened registration offices longer, and allowed people to register by mail, millions more might vote.

These ideas led to the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, also known as the "Motor Voter" act. This law made it easier to register at places like the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), disability centers, schools, and libraries, or by mail. The goal was to encourage more people to vote, especially those who might not have voted before.

Even though these changes made it easier to register, the number of people voting didn't increase as much as some expected. Some studies even suggest that making voting "easier" might have actually helped those who were already interested in politics, rather than bringing in many new voters. To truly increase voting, more people need to become interested in politics.

Where to Register

Easy Ways to Sign Up

Before the "Motor Voter" law in 1995, you usually had to register at government offices. But the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 made it simpler. Now, states must offer ways to register at places like the DMV, disability centers, schools, and libraries. You can also register by mail.

However, six states are exceptions to these rules: North Dakota, Idaho, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Registering Online

Many states now let you register to vote online. As of August 2020, 41 states, the District of Columbia, and Guam offered online voter registration. Two more states, Maine and Oklahoma, were planning to add it. Remember, North Dakota doesn't have voter registration at all.

State or federal district	Date online voter registration implemented	Website
Alabama	2016-12-01	Alabama Votes
Alaska	2015-11	Alaska Online Voter Registration
Arizona	2002-07	Service Arizona Voter Registration
California	2012-09-19	California Online Voter Registration
Colorado	2010-04-01	Go Vote Colorado
Connecticut	2014-01-01	Connecticut Online Voter Registration
Delaware	2014-04	I Vote Delaware
District of Columbia	2015	District of Columbia Online Voter Registration
Florida	2017-10-01	Register to Vote Florida Voter Registration
Georgia	2014-03	Georgia Online Voter Registration
Guam	[data missing]	Guam Online Voter Registration
Hawaii	2015-08-04	Hawaii Online Voter Registration
Idaho	2017-12-06	Idaho Votes
Illinois	2014-06-17	Illinois Online Voter Registration
Indiana	2010-07-01	Indiana Online Voter Registration
Iowa	2016-01-04	Iowa Online Voter Registration
Kansas	2009-05	Kansas Online Voter Registration
Kentucky	2016-03-01	Kentucky Online Voter Registration
Louisiana	2010-04	Geaux Vote
Maine	2023-11	N/A
Maryland	2012-07-01	Maryland Online Voter Registration
Massachusetts	2015-06-23	Massachusetts Online Voter Registration
Michigan	2019-12-02	Michigan Online Voter Registration
Minnesota	2013-09-26	MN Votes
Missouri	2014	Vote Missouri
Nebraska	2015-09-22	Nebraska Online Voter Registration
Nevada	2012-09	Nevada Online Voter Registration
New Jersey	2020-09-04	New Jersey Online Voter Registration
New Mexico	2016-01-01	New Mexico Online Voter Registration
New York	2011	New York Electronic Voter Registration
North Carolina	2020-03-20	North Carolina Online Voter Registration
Ohio	2017-01-01	Ohio Online Voter Registration
Oklahoma	2020	Not fully implemented yet
Oregon	2010-03-01	OreStar
Pennsylvania	2015-08-27	PA Online Voter Registration
Rhode Island	2016-08-01	RI Online Voter Registration
South Carolina	2012-10-02	S.C. Online Voter Registration
Tennessee	2017-08-29	GoVote TN Voter Registration
Texas	2020-09	N/A
Utah	2010-06	Utah Online Voter Registration
Vermont	2015-10-12	Vermont Online Voter Registration
Virginia	2013-07-23	Virginia Voter Registration
Washington	2008-01	MyVote
West Virginia	2015-09	West Virginia Online Voter Registration
Wisconsin	2017-01-09	My Vote Wisconsin

Automatic Voter Registration

Many states are now making voter registration automatic. As of July 2019, 16 states and the District of Columbia automatically register citizens when they interact with state agencies, like the DMV. People can choose to opt-out (say no) if they don't want to be registered.

Oregon started this system on January 1, 2016. Soon after, California, West Virginia, and Vermont adopted it. Connecticut also planned to do it. In Alaska, voters approved a measure in 2016 to allow automatic registration when applying for the state's Permanent Dividend Fund.

State or federal district	Automatic voter registration implemented
Alaska	2017-03-01
California	2017-04
Colorado	2017-02
Connecticut	2018
Delaware	2023
District of Columbia	2018-06-26
Georgia	2016-09
Illinois	2018-07-02
Maine	2022-01
Maryland	2019-07-01
Massachusetts	2020-01
Michigan	2019-09-09
Nevada	2020-01
New Jersey	2018-11-01
New Mexico	[data missing]
New York	2020-12-22
Oregon	2016-01-01
Rhode Island	2018-06
Vermont	2017-01
Virginia	2020-04
Washington	2019-07
West Virginia	2019-07

Partial Automatic Registration

Some states have a "partial automatic" system. This means some of your information, like your name and address, is sent electronically from the DMV to election officials. However, it might still involve some paper forms, so it's not fully automatic.

Election Day Registration

Most states require you to register a few weeks before an election, usually 2 to 4 weeks. But some states allow "Election Day voter registration" (EDR), also known as "same-day registration" (SDR). This means you can register or update your registration when you go to vote, either on Election Day or during early voting periods.

With EDR, you show a valid ID to an election official at the polling place. If you're not registered or your information is old, they can register you right there.

As of March 2018, 17 states and the District of Columbia offer same-day voter registration. This allows any qualified resident to register and vote on the same day. Nine other states allow voter registration during part of their early voting periods.

States that have EDR often have higher voter turnout. For example, in the 2012 presidential election, states with same-day registration had an average turnout of 71%, much higher than the 59% in states without it. Studies show that EDR can increase voter turnout by 3 to 14 percentage points. It especially helps young voters, who often move more frequently.

Federal district or state	Same day voting registration implemented	Early voting period registration implemented
California	[data missing]	[data missing]
Colorado	[data missing]	[data missing]
Connecticut	[data missing]	N/A
District of Columbia	[data missing]	N/A
Hawaii	[data missing]	[data missing]
Idaho	[data missing]	N/A
Illinois	[data missing]	N/A
Iowa	[data missing]	[data missing]
Maine	1973	N/A
Maryland	N/A	[data missing]
Michigan	2019	2019
Minnesota	[data missing]	N/A
Montana	[data missing]	N/A
New Hampshire	[data missing]	N/A
New Mexico	[data missing]	[data missing]
North Carolina	N/A	[data missing]
Utah	[data missing]	[data missing]
Vermont	[data missing]	[data missing]
Washington	2019	2019
Wisconsin	[data missing]	N/A
Wyoming	[data missing]	N/A

Moving and Voting

Permanent and Portable Registration

Some states make it easier to vote if you move within the state. As of 2014, Delaware, Hawaii, Oregon, and Texas allow registered voters who have moved to update their registration when they vote. They then get a regular ballot.

Florida is a bit different. If you move to a new county and voting area, you might have to vote with a "provisional ballot." This ballot is counted later, after your eligibility is confirmed. However, if your new voting area uses electronic poll books or you are in the military, you can get a regular ballot.

The District of Columbia, Maryland, Ohio, and Utah also allow registered voters who move within their state or district to vote in their new county without re-registering. But they might also get a provisional ballot.

Preregistration for Young People

"Preregistration" means that people younger than 18 can sign up to vote, even though they can't actually cast a ballot until they turn 18. All states have some form of preregistration, usually starting at age 16, except for North Dakota, which doesn't have any registration.

Federal district of state	Preregistration requirements
Alabama	18 years old by the election date
Alaska	Within 90 days preceding 18th birthday
Arizona	18 years old by the election date
Arkansas	18 years old by the election date
California	16-year-olds may preregister
Colorado	16-year-olds may preregister
Connecticut	18 years old by the election date
Delaware	16-year-olds may preregister
District of Columbia	16-year-olds may preregister
Florida	16-year-olds may preregister
Georgia	17.5-year-olds may preregister
Hawaii	16-year-olds may preregister, and 17-year-olds may register but not vote
Idaho	18 years old by the election date
Illinois	18 years old by the election date
Indiana	18 years old by the election date
Iowa	17.5-year-olds may preregister
Kansas	18 years old by the election date
Kentucky	18 years old by the election date
Louisiana	16-year-olds may preregister
Maine	17-year-olds may preregister
Maryland	16-year-olds may preregister
Massachusetts	16-year-olds may preregister
Michigan	18 years old by the election date
Minnesota	18 years old by the election date
Mississippi	18 years old by the election date
Missouri	17.5-year-olds may preregister
Montana	18 years old by the election date
Nebraska	18 years old by the election date
Nevada	17-year-olds may preregister
New Hampshire	18 years old by the election date
New Jersey	17-year-olds may preregister
New Mexico	18 years old by the election date
New York	16 year olds may preregister
North Carolina	16-year-olds may preregister
Ohio	18-year-olds by the election date
Oklahoma	18 years old by the election date
Oregon	16-year-olds may preregister
Pennsylvania	18 years old by the election date
Rhode Island	16-year-olds may preregister, and 17-year-olds may register if they will be 18 years old by the election
South Carolina	18 years old by the election date
South Dakota	18 years old by the election date
Tennessee	18 years old by the election date
Texas	Individuals 17 years and 10 months old may register
Utah	16-year-olds may preregister
Vermont	18 years old by the election date
Virginia	18 years old by the election date
Washington	18 years old by the election date
West Virginia	17-year-olds may preregister
Wisconsin	18 years old by the election date
Wyoming	18 years old by the election date

Voter Registration Drives

A voter registration drive is when a government group, political party, or other organization tries to help people sign up to vote. In many places, election officials try to get as many people as possible to register. In the U.S. (except North Dakota), you must register to vote in federal, state, or local elections.

These drives are sometimes done by political campaigns or parties to register people who are likely to vote for their side. Other times, non-political groups do these drives to simply encourage more people to vote.

In 2004, a group called Nu Mu Lambda tried to register voters in DeKalb County, Georgia. The Georgia Secretary of State rejected their applications because the group didn't get special permission first. Nu Mu Lambda sued, saying that Georgia's rules made it harder for groups to help people register. A judge agreed, saying that private groups have the right to help people register without needing permission from state officials.

Many national organizations work to register voters and encourage people to participate in elections. Some of these include:

Political Party Affiliation

In 31 states and the District of Columbia, you can choose to declare which political party you belong to when you register to vote. You can also choose to be "unaffiliated," meaning you don't belong to any party.

In states that have "closed primaries" (elections where only party members can vote), you often need to declare your party affiliation before you can get a ballot for that party's primary election. Being part of a party also often allows you to participate in that party's internal decisions.

Deadlines to Change Party for Primary Elections

If you want to vote in a specific party's primary election and need to change your party affiliation, there are usually deadlines.

Federal district of state	Deadline to re-register with a political party for a partisan primary election	Deadline to re-register with a political party for the 2020 U.S. Presidential Caucuses and Primary elections
Colorado	29th day prior to the partisan primary election	2020-02-03
Connecticut	3 months prior to the partisan primary election	[data missing]
Delaware	The last Saturday in May of the year of the partisan primary election	[data missing]
District of Columbia	21st day prior to the partisan primary election	[data missing]
Idaho	10th Friday prior to the partisan primary election	[data missing]
Kansas	14th day prior to the partisan primary election	[data missing]
Kentucky	December 31 of the year prior to the partisan primary election	[data missing]
Maine	15th day prior to the partisan primary election	[data missing]
New Hampshire	1st Tuesday of June of the year of the partisan primary election	[data missing]
New Jersey	55th day prior to the partisan primary election	2020-04-08
New York	The Friday 10 weeks before the Presidential Primary Election in 2020	2020-02-14
Rhode Island	30th day prior to the partisan primary election	[data missing]
Wyoming	14th day prior to the partisan primary election	[data missing]

Youth Voting

In some cities, people younger than 18 can vote in local elections, like for city councils and school boards. Takoma Park, Maryland, was the first city to allow youth voting in 2013. Other nearby cities, including Hyattsville, Greenbelt, and Riverdale Park, have also adopted similar rules.

Images for kids

• 

  Map showing which U.S. states and territories require voter registration.

• 

  Children gathered around a voter registration sign in the early 1960s.

• 

  A voter information card from Sumter County, Florida.

• 

  Map showing states that allow online voter registration.

• 

  Map showing states that have automatic voter registration.

• 

  Map showing states that allow same-day voter registration.

• 

  Map showing states with permanent and portable voter registration.

• 

  Map showing states that allow preregistration for young people.

• 

  A voter registration rally for Barack Obama's presidential campaign in 2008.