If you want to know how to check your voter registration, we’re glad you asked! Because you might have heard there’s a pretty big election coming up, not just for President, but for 33 US Senate seats, all 435 seats in the House of Representatives, and many state, city, and local elected positions.

Fortunately it is so easy to check your voter registration, it takes all of 30 seconds. If that. So do it!

Updated August 5, 2024 with new information 

How to check your voter registration status online in 30 seconds or less

How to check your voter registration

  1. Visit the bipartisan nonprofit vote.org/am-i-registered-to-vote; or alternately visit usvotefoundation.org/am-i-registered, which will redirect you to your state board of elections website.
  2. Type in your name, address, date of birth.
  3. That’s it! They will let you know if your voter registration is all set.

Why should I check my voter registration?

Shenanigans. Or technically, voter purges. The Brennan Center for Justice describes a voter purge as “an often-flawed process of cleaning up voter rolls by deleting names from registration lists.”

There can of course be mistakes; sometimes valid, registered voters are purged accidentally. However, sometimes, eligible voters are purged intentionally by means of discriminatory voter disenfranchisement techniques.

Here are some voter registration issues to be aware of:

For these reasons, it can never hurt to check your voter registration before an election — sooner than later. Per the National Voter Registration Act, you are entitled to submit your valid voter registration up to 30 days before a Federal election. Check now, and you’ll have plenty of time to fix any irregularities.

In fact, check again later too.

Where’s my polling place? Do I need to bring ID? I have so many questions!

Visit usvotefoundation.org/state-voter-information and select your state. You will get information about your state’s specific laws and regulations, along with overseas, and military voter information. Some of the voter info you can find:

  • Upcoming election dates and deadlines
  • General info including how to register, election day voting, and early voting
  • Eligibility requirements
  • ID requirements, if any, for in-person voting.*
  • How you may access voting materials (e.g. whether you can request absentee ballots by mail)
  • A comprehensive list of state lookup tools

*It is incredibly important to double check your state’s ID requirements directly from your state voting site, because they all differ, and some existing regulations are changing or being challenged as we speak. For example, in Ohio, providing the last 4 digits of your social security number is acceptable. In Connecticut, you may request an affidavit to sign if you don’t have ID on you. 

What about military voters overseas? Or citizens living out of the country?

Visit The Overseas Vote Foundation for all the info you need including absentee ballot requests. You are covered!

What if I do if I suspect my registration was purged illegally, or I encounter some other voter suppression or fraud?

You can vist the US Government’s voter fraud page, which will direct you to a number of places to report it, including your local election office, a local US attoerney’s office, or the FBI,

 

Top image: Element5 Digital on Unsplash