Which States Offer Same-Day Voter Registration and Why Does it Matter?
Only 23 states and Washington, D.C. offer same-day voter registration, which allows voters to register to vote and then cast a ballot on the same day.
“Same-day registration makes voting more accessible and encourages voters to participate in democracy,” said Carolyn DeWitt, president and executive director of Rock the Vote.
Studies have shown that this registration option increases voter turnout, especially among young people, Dewitt said. Specifically, same-day registration increases turnout for voters ages 18-24 by 3% to 7%.
“One of the things we know from research is that young people tend to not be thinking about the election as far in advance as maybe older habitual voters,” said Lisa Bryant, professor and chair of the Department of Political Science at Fresno State.
Also, Bryant noted that many young people are renters, so they are more likely to move districts or even states. She said that people who move residences ahead of an election significantly benefit from same-day voter registration.
“You have a lot going on when you move — getting utilities hooked up, getting your mail changed and all of that stuff. Voter registration updates might not be at the very top of your list of things to do,” Bryant said.
While this often applies to young people and low-income individuals who are more likely to rent apartments and not own a home, this scenario could include anyone, she stated.
Also, DeWitt added this voter registration method helps young people because they may have “unpredictable schedules with school and work” and they may need to change their photo IDs, which are often needed for registration.
Washington, D.C. and most of the states with same-day registration — California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming — make the process easy and accessible. However, a handful present obstacles.
Some states, including Michigan and Montana, don’t allow for same-day registration at polling places, only at other locations like city clerks’ offices or county election offices.
North Carolina only permits same-day registration during the early voting period, and New York is even more restrictive — only allowing it during the first day of early voting on Oct. 26.
New Hampshire has the opposite restriction — only offering Election Day registration.
Connecticut only allows voters to register and cast their ballots on the same day during general elections, not primaries.
Then, Alaska and Rhode Island allow voters to register on Election Day, only in presidential elections. Those new voters can then only cast votes for president and vice president.
“Same-day registration is intended to make voting more accessible, so any fine print added to it would be doing the opposite,” DeWitt said.
In February 2023, New York legislators introduced a bill that would allow for same-day registration on Election Day and throughout the early voting period, but the bill died in committee.
Many other states have tried to pass bills establishing same-day registration but failed to do so over the last couple of years, including Arizona, Florida, Massachusetts, Missouri, Mississippi, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania.
Also, Delaware passed a law in 2022 allowing for same-day voter registration, but the state Supreme Court overturned it that year.
One of the concerns many people have about same-day registration is that it could allow people to vote multiple times in different jurisdictions, but Bryant said that there are safeguards in place in many states to prevent this.
“So many places today use what’s called an e-poll book or an electronic poll book where as soon as a voter walks into a voting location, they sign a digital pad, they sign in to vote and they get the ballot. The voter roll is updated immediately, showing this voter came and voted,” Bryant said.
Dewitt argued that there are no “credible” criticisms of same-day registration. She also said that states moving their voter registration deadlines earlier and not offering same-day registration could disenfranchise certain voters.
“There’s an effort to suppress young voters who may not even be aware of deadlines and who may not be necessarily focused on that election yet, and so they miss their deadlines in states like Florida, for instance,” Dewitt said. “It’s extremely unfortunate and wrong.”
Read the National Conference of State Legislatures’ guide on state policies.