Voter registration in the United States


Voter registration in the United States is required for voting in federal, state and local elections in the United States. The only exception is North Dakota, which does not require registration, although North Dakota law allows cities to register voters for city elections. Voter registration takes place at the county level in many states and at the municipal level in several states. Most states set cutoff dates for voter registration, ranging from 2 to 4 weeks before an election; while a third of states have Election Day or "same-day" voter registration which enables eligible citizens to register or update their registration when they vote before or on Election Day.
It has been argued that some registration requirements deter some people from registering and therefore exercising their right to vote, resulting in a lower voter turnout. According to a 2012 study, 24% of the voting-eligible population in the United States are not registered to vote, equaling some 51 million U.S. citizens. While voters traditionally had to register at government offices by a certain period of time before an election, in the mid-1990s, the federal government made efforts to facilitate registering, in an attempt to increase turnout. The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 now requires state governments to either provide uniform opt-in registration services through drivers' license registration centers, disability centers, schools, libraries, and mail-in registration, or to allow Election Day voter registration, where voters can register at polling places immediately prior to voting. In 2016, Oregon became the first state to make voter registration fully automatic when issuing driver licenses and ID cards, since followed by four more states. Political parties and other organizations sometimes hold "voter registration drives", that is, events to register new voters.
In most states, persons registering to vote may at the same time declare an affiliation with a political party.

History

In 1800, Massachusetts became the first state to require voter registration as a prerequisite for voting statewide, followed by Maine, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. Throughout the 19th century, and especially after the Civil War, more states and cities would follow in establishing registration of eligible voters as a prerequisite to voting, partially to stymie the ability of immigrants in cities to vote. However, it was not until 1913 when Nebraska became the first state to establish a permanent statewide registry of voters, to be overseen by an election commissioner.
In 2002, Arizona became the first state to allow for voter registration over the Internet. In 2016, Oregon became the first state to implement a fully automatic voter registration system tied into the process of issuing driver licenses and ID cards.

Federal jurisdiction

While the United States Congress has jurisdiction over laws applying to federal elections, it has deferred the making of most aspects of election laws to the states. The United States Constitution prohibits states from restricting voting rights in ways that infringe on a person's right to equal protection under the law, on the basis of race, on the basis of sex, on the basis of having failed to pay a poll tax or any tax, or on the basis of age for persons age 18 and older. The administration of elections, however, vary widely across jurisdictions.
Only US citizens have the right to vote in federal elections. In a few cases, permanent residents have registered to vote and have cast ballots without realizing that doing so was illegal. Non-citizens convicted in criminal court of having made a false claim of citizenship for the purpose of registering to vote in a federal election can be fined and imprisoned for up to a year. Deportation and removal proceedings have resulted from several such cases. Some municipalities allow non-citizen residents to vote in municipal or school district elections only.
Some states prohibit convicted felons from voting, a practice known as felony disenfranchisement. Of these states, some prohibit voting only during parole or probation but allow voting after. A small number of states may require repeat offenders to have their voting rights restored through court action.

Effect on participation

A 2012 study by The Pew Charitable Trusts estimates that 24% of the voting-eligible population in the United States are not registered to vote, a percentage that represents "at least 51 million eligible U.S. citizens." The study suggests that registration requirements contribute to discouraging people from exercising their right to vote, thereby causing a lower voter turnout. The extent of discouragement and its effect on increasing the socioeconomic bias of the electorate however remain contested.
In a 1980 landmark study, Raymond E. Wolfinger and Steven J. Rosenstone came to the conclusion that less restrictive registration requirements would substantially increase the electoral turnout. According to their probit analysis, if all states adopted the procedures of the most permissive state regulations, which would mean:
  1. eliminating the closing date
  2. opening registration offices during the forty-hour work week
  3. opening registration offices in the evening or on Saturday
  4. permitting absentee registration for the sick, disabled and absent
turnout in the 1972 presidential election would have been 9.1% higher, with 12.2 million additional people having voted. In a seminal 1988 book, sociologists Richard Cloward and Francis Fox Piven argued that lowering registration requirements would improve socioeconomic equality in the composition of the electorate.
Findings such as this have inspired lawmakers to facilitate the registration process, eventually leading to the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 that required states to allow voter registration at various public offices, including drivers' license registration centers, disability centers, schools, libraries, as well as mail-in registration, unless a state adopts Election Day voter registration. The way towards passing this piece of federal legislation was however lengthy and rocky, as these reforms were highly contested. In an expanded 1990 edition of their 1988 book, titled "Why Americans still don't vote: and why politicians want it that way," Cloward and Piven argued that the reforms were expected to encourage less-privileged groups which happen to lean towards the Democratic Party.
While the turnout at federal elections did substantially increase following the electoral reforms, the effect fell short of Wolfinger and Rosenstone's expectations while Cloward's and Piven's hope of improving the demographic representativeness of
the electorate wasn't fulfilled at all. Political scientist Adam Berinsky concluded in a 2005 article that the reforms designed to make voting "easier" in their entirety had an opposite effect, actually increasing the preexisting socioeconomic biases by ensuring "that those citizens who are most engaged with the political world – those with politically relevant resources – continue to participate, whereas those individuals without such resources fall by the wayside." As Berinsky reaffirms in a 2016 piece, the only way to increase turnout while improving representativeness is making more people become interested in politics.

Forms of facilitation

Registration centers

Traditionally, voters have had to register at government offices to vote, but in 1993 Congress passed the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, also known as the "Motor Voter" law, which came into effect on January 1, 1995, to make registering easier, in an attempt to increase turnout. The law requires state governments to provide opt-in registration services through drivers' license registration centers, disability centers, schools, libraries, and mail-in registration, though the States which since March 11, 1993, have not required voter registration for federal elections or had same-day voter registration on Election Day were exempt from the Act. Six states qualify for the exemption: North Dakota, Idaho, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Online

As of December 6, 2017, 37 states and the District of Columbia offer online registration, along with two other states that has passed legislation to create online voter registration systems, but not yet implemented it.
Federal district or stateDate online voter
registration implemented		Website
2016-12-01
2015-11
2002-07
2012-09-19
2010-04-01
2014-01-01
2014-04
2015
2017-10-01
Georgia2014-03
2015-08-04
2017-12-06
2014-06-17
2010-07-01
2016-01-04
2009-05
2016-03-01
2010-04
2012-07-01
2015-06-23
2019-12-02
2013-09-26
2014
2015-09-22
2012-09
2020Not implemented yet
2016-01-01
2011
2017-01-01
2020Not fully implemented yet
2010-03-01
2015-08-27
2016-08-01
2012-10-02
2017-08-29
2010-06
2015-10-12
2013-07-23
Washington2008-01
2015-09
2017-01-09

Automatic

As of April 22, 2019, 11 states and the District of Columbia provide automatic registration when citizens interact with state agencies such as the DMV, along with 7 other states that have passed legislation or committed administratively to create automatic registration systems, but not yet implemented it. Those interacting with the state agencies have the option to opt-out of registering.
From January 1, 2016, Oregon implemented the Motor Voter Act, a fully automatic voter registration system tied into the process of issuing driver licenses and ID cards. By April 2016 three more states – California, West Virginia, and Vermont – had followed suit, and in May 2016 Connecticut announced plans to implement it administratively rather than by legislation, bringing the number of states with automatic voter registration policies to five. Alaskan voters approved Measure 1 during the November 8, 2016, general election, allowing residents the ability to register to vote when applying annually for the state's Permanent Dividend Fund. Voter approval of Measure 1 made Alaska the first state to implement automatic voter registration via ballot initiative and the sixth state to implement automatic registration by any means including passing legislation. Several more states have considered legislation for automatic registration. On August 28, 2017, Governor Bruce Rauner signed Illinois SB1933, which sets implementation of automatic voter registration at motor vehicle agencies for July 1, 2018, and a year later at other state agencies.
Federal district or stateAutomatic voter
registration implemented
2017-03-01
2017-04
2017-02
2018
2018-06-26
Georgia2016-09
2018-07-02
2022-01
2019-07-01
2020-01
2019-09-09
2020-01
2018-11-01
2016-01-01
2018-06
2017-01
Washington2019-07
2019-07

Election Day / same-day

The majority of states require voters to register two to four weeks before an election, with cutoff dates varying from 30 to 15 days.
Some states allow Election Day voter registration which enables eligible citizens to register to vote or update their registration when they arrive to vote. Some states call the procedure same-day registration because voters can register and vote during an earlier voting period before Election Day.
EDR allows eligible citizens to register or update their registration at the polls or their local election office by showing valid identification to a poll worker or election official, who checks the identification, consults the registration list and, if they are not registered or the registration is out of date, registers them on the spot.
As of March 27, 2018, 17 states and the District of Columbia offer same day voter registration, which allows any qualified resident of the state to go to register to vote and cast a ballot all in that day. Additionally, 1 state has enacted same day vote registration, which has yet to be implemented. Also, 9 states have voter registration possible for a portion of their early voting periods.
Five states are exempt from the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 because they have continuously since 1993 had EDR: Idaho, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Maine lost the exemption when it abolished EDR in 2011, though it was subsequently restored. North Dakota is also exempt because it does not have a registration requirement. In June 2011, Maine abolished EDR, which had been in place since 1973, and abolished absentee voting during the two business days before an election. However, the stipulation banning EDR was overturned in a November 2011 citizen referendum titled Question 1, when Maine voters reinstated EDR with 59% in favor.
Voter turnout is much higher in states using EDR than in states that do not. A 2013 report analyzing turnout in the 2012 United States presidential election, had SDR states averaging at a turnout of 71%, well above the average voter turn-out rate of 59% for non-SDR states. According to official turnout data report in the 2014 edition of America Goes to the Polls, voter turnout in EDR states has averaged 10–14 percent higher than states that lack that option. Research suggests that EDR increases turnout between three and fourteen percentage points. A 2004 study summarizes the impact of EDR on voter turnout as "about five percentage points".
Federal district or stateSame day voting registration implementedEarly voting period registration implemented
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
1973N/A
N/A
20192019
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Washington20192019
N/A
N/A

Permanent & portable

As of 2014, Delaware, Hawaii, Oregon, and Texas allow registered voters who have moved within the state to update their registrations when they vote, and are given a regular ballot when they vote. Florida requires any registered voter who moved to another county and another voting precinct to vote only by a provisional ballot, except if "the precinct to which you have moved has an electronic poll book or you are an active military member", in which case the voter would be given a regular ballot when they vote. As of 2014, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Ohio, and Utah allow registered voters who have moved within the state or the District of Columbia to vote in their new county without re-registering at their new address, but they can only vote a provisional ballot, which could require further action from the voter before it is counted.

Preregistration

Federal district of statePreregistration requirements
18 years old by the election date
Within 90 days preceding 18th birthday
18 years old by the election date
18 years old by the election date
16-year-olds may preregister
16-year-olds may preregister
18 years old by the election date
16-year-olds may preregister
16-year-olds may preregister
16-year-olds may preregister
17.5-year-olds may preregister
16-year-olds may preregister, and 17-year-olds may register but not vote
18 years old by the election date
18 years old by the election date
18 years old by the election date
17.5-year-olds may preregister
18 years old by the election date
18 years old by the election date
16-year-olds may preregister
17-year-olds may preregister
16-year-olds may preregister
16-year-olds may preregister
18 years old by the election date
18 years old by the election date
18 years old by the election date
17.5-year-olds may preregister
18 years old by the election date
18 years old by the election date
17-year-olds may preregister
18 years old by the election date
17-year-olds may preregister
18 years old by the election date
18 years old by the election date
16-year-olds may preregister
18-year-olds by the election date
18 years old by the election date
16-year-olds may preregister
18 years old by the election date
16-year-olds may preregister, and 17-year-olds may register if they will be 18 years old by the election
18 years old by the election date
18 years old by the election date
18 years old by the election date
Individuals 17 years and 10 months old may register
16-year-olds may preregister
18 years old by the election date
18 years old by the election date
18 years old by the election date
17-year-olds may preregister
18 years old by the election date
18 years old by the election date

Drives

A voter registration drive is an effort undertaken by government authorities as well as political parties and other entities to register to vote all persons otherwise entitled to vote. In many countries the functions of electoral authorities includes endeavours to get as many people to register to vote as possible. In most jurisdictions, registration on the electoral roll is a prerequisite to a person being able to vote at elections.
In the United States, such drives are often undertaken by a political campaign, political party, or other outside groups, that seeks to register persons who are eligible to vote but are not registered. In all states except North Dakota, registration on the electoral roll in the United States is a prerequisite to a person being able to vote at federal, state or local elections, as well as to serve on juries and perform other civil duties. Sometimes these drives are undertaken for partisan purposes, and target specific demographic groups that are likely to vote for one candidate or other; on the other hand, such drives are sometimes undertaken by non-partisan groups and targeted more generally.
In 2004, the Nu Mu Lambda chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity held a voter registration drive in DeKalb County, Georgia, from which Georgia Secretary of State Cathy Cox rejected all 63 voter registration applications on the basis that the fraternity did not follow correct procedures, including obtaining specific pre-clearance from the state to conduct their drive. Nu Mu Lambda filed Charles H. Wesley Education Foundation v. Cathy Cox on the basis that the Georgia's long-standing policy and practice of rejecting mail-in voter registration applications that were submitted in bundles, by persons other than registrars, deputy registrars, or "authorized persons", violated the requirements of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 by undermining voter registration drives. A senior U.S. District Judge upheld earlier federal court decisions in the case, which also found private entities have a right, under the federal law, to engage in organized voter registration activity in Georgia at times and locations of their choosing, without the presence or permission of state or local election officials.
Notable national organizations that regularly work to register voters and promote citizens' engagement in elections include:
In 31 states and the District of Columbia, voters are allowed to mark their party affiliation, or their unaffiliated status, on their voter registration form. In those states which host closed primaries for political parties, voters are often mandated to declare their party affiliation prior to receiving a primary ballot, whether on the day of the primary or by a prior deadline. In addition, voters who are party-affiliated in their voter files are most often allowed to participate in intra-party elections and decision-making.

Deadline to re-register with a party for a primary election