How to Check If You Are Registered to Vote

With only a few weeks left until the election, it’s time to come up with a voting plan if you haven’t already. But before requesting an absentee ballot or finding your polling station’s address, take a minute to make sure you are indeed registered to vote. Even if you think so, check it out. Make absolutely sure. Here’s how to do it.

The easiest way to check if you are registered to vote

While there are many sites that will offer to check if you are registered, many of them belong to political organizations and will also hijack your email address in the process and start sending you nasty political spam emails. The best way to get rid of this headache is to go to the source: your state’s official website.

The easiest way to get to your state’s official homepage is to do a Google search for “Am I registered to vote.” Using your whereabouts, Google will display a direct link to the voter registration site for your state. If you are not in your home state, enter the search term “Am I registered to vote in [state]?” Instead. Once you’re on your state’s website, enter your name, address, and any other required information (you may need a driver’s license or ID) to double-check your registration status, party affiliation, and voting preferences.

What happens next

If you find that you are already on the roster and listed as an active voter, you are ready to vote. However, if you have not voted for four or more years, your voting status may be listed as “inactive”. If this happens, visit your state election website for instructions on how to reactivate your voting status (the process differs from state to state).

As we get down to business, it is also very important to pay attention to the deadline for registering your state to participate in the upcoming elections. You can find this information through the US Voting Foundation or at your state or territory electoral office .

Or, check out our guide to everything you need to know to vote in 2020, which provides registration deadlines for each state along with other useful information, including an explanation of the difference between mail and absentee voting (they are basically the same – sorry, mister president – but you could get more information). This post was originally published in September 2018 and was updated in September 2020 to include more relevant context and information for 2020, and to add a new header image.