Voter registration
 |
|
Voter registration is the process whereby citizens register with election officials in order to become eligible to vote. Forty-nine states require voters to register (only North Dakota does not require voters to register). Voter registration methods vary by state and can include the following: registering in person at state government agency offices, online, by mail, and through voter registration drives sponsored by non-government entities.[1]
Eligibility to vote in the United States
An individual must be at least 18 years of age, a United States citizen, and a resident of the jurisdiction in which he or she is registering in order to be eligible to vote in that jurisdiction.[2]
Under federal law, every state must allow residents to register to vote at least 30 days before Election Day, though some states extend the deadline to register. Additional requirements and restrictions on voter registration (e.g., voting eligibility of felons) vary by state.
Voter registration statistics
2018
The map and table below detail voter registration statistics by state, current as of the 2018 election cycle.
| Voter registration statistics by state, 2018 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| State | Total citizen population | Total registration | Registration as a percentage of citizen population |
| Alabama | 3,609,000 | 2,490,000 | 69.0% |
| Alaska | 497,000 | 337,000 | 67.7% |
| Arizona | 4,757,000 | 3,262,000 | 68.6% |
| Arkansas | 2,158,000 | 1,262,000 | 58.5% |
| California | 25,525,000 | 15,690,000 | 61.5% |
| Colorado | 4,029,000 | 2,645,000 | 65.6% |
| Connecticut | 2,539,000 | 1,726,000 | 68.0% |
| Delaware | 713,000 | 472,000 | 66.3% |
| District of Columbia | 512,000 | 397,000 | 77.6% |
| Florida | 15,047,000 | 9,435,000 | 62.7% |
| Georgia | 7,311,000 | 4,840,000 | 66.2% |
| Hawaii | 971,000 | 523,000 | 53.9% |
| Idaho | 1,226,000 | 743,000 | 60.6% |
| Illinois | 8,947,000 | 6,068,000 | 67.8% |
| Indiana | 4,792,000 | 3,131,000 | 65.3% |
| Iowa | 2,239,000 | 1,658,000 | 74.0% |
| Kansas | 2,026,000 | 1,449,000 | 71.5% |
| Kentucky | 3,249,000 | 2,389,000 | 73.5% |
| Louisiana | 3,326,000 | 2,263,000 | 68.0% |
| Maine | 1,056,000 | 828,000 | 78.4% |
| Maryland | 4,281,000 | 3,095,000 | 72.3% |
| Massachusetts | 4,919,000 | 3,345,000 | 68.0% |
| Michigan | 7,430,000 | 5,453,000 | 73.4% |
| Minnesota | 4,006,000 | 3,000,000 | 74.9% |
| Mississippi | 2,178,000 | 1,599,000 | 73.4% |
| Missouri | 4,564,000 | 3,299,000 | 72.3% |
| Montana | 812,000 | 579,000 | 71.3% |
| Nebraska | 1,332,000 | 883,000 | 66.3% |
| Nevada | 2,067,000 | 1,277,000 | 61.8% |
| New Hampshire | 1,025,000 | 726,000 | 70.8% |
| New Jersey | 6,267,000 | 4,297,000 | 68.6% |
| New Mexico | 1,485,000 | 916,000 | 61.7% |
| New York | 13,684,000 | 8,553,000 | 62.5% |
| North Carolina | 7,444,000 | 5,160,000 | 69.3% |
| North Dakota | 541,000 | 397,000 | 73.4% |
| Ohio | 8,640,000 | 6,062,000 | 70.2% |
| Oklahoma | 2,732,000 | 1,777,000 | 65.1% |
| Oregon | 3,138,000 | 2,274,000 | 72.5% |
| Pennsylvania | 9,475,000 | 6,469,000 | 68.3% |
| Rhode Island | 782,000 | 532,000 | 68.0% |
| South Carolina | 3,769,000 | 2,430,000 | 64.5% |
| South Dakota | 637,000 | 429,000 | 67.3% |
| Tennessee | 5,016,000 | 3,183,000 | 63.5% |
| Texas | 18,374,000 | 11,634,000 | 63.3% |
| Utah | 2,109,000 | 1,443,000 | 68.4% |
| Vermont | 497,000 | 343,000 | 69.0% |
| Virginia | 5,773,000 | 4,159,000 | 72.0% |
| Washington | 5,228,000 | 3,852,000 | 73.7% |
| West Virginia | 1,384,000 | 892,000 | 64.5% |
| Wisconsin | 4,296,000 | 3,129,000 | 72.8% |
| Wyoming | 422,000 | 268,000 | 63.5% |
| U.S. total | 228,832,000 | 153,066,000 | 66.9% |
| Source: United States Census Bureau, "Voting and Registration in the Election of November 2018," accessed October 2020 | |||
Online voter registration
- See also: Online voter registration
As of September 14, 2020, 40 states (and Washington, D.C.) had implemented online voter registration. Another state, Oklahoma, had passed legislation or enacted regulations authorizing online voter registration.[3] See the map below for further information.
Same-day voter registration
- See also: Same-day voter registration
Same-day voter registration enables voters to register and vote at the same time. Same-day registration is sometimes referred to as Election Day registration.[4]
Automatic voter registration
- See also: Automatic voter registration
Under an automatic voter registration system, eligible voters are automatically registered to vote whenever they interact with government agencies (e.g., departments of motor vehicles). Eligible voters are registered by default, although they may request not to be registered.[5][6]
See also
- Online voter registration
- Same-day voter registration
- Automatic voter registration
- National Voter Registration Act
- Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002
- Election Assistance Commission
Footnotes
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "Voter Registration," September 27, 2016
- ↑ 866ourvote.org, "Voter Registration," accessed March 20, 2014
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "Online Voter Registration," accessed July 31, 2018
- ↑ Pew Center on the States, "Inaccurate, Costly, and Inefficient: Evidence That America's Voter Registration System Needs an Upgrade," February 2012
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "Automatic Voter Registration," August 31, 2017
- ↑ Brennan Center for Justice, "Automatic Voter Registration," February 10, 2018
| |||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
