Voter registration
Definition
Voter registration is the process of enrolling with a state or local election office as an eligible voter before an election, typically requiring proof of eligibility like age, citizenship, and residency. Every state requires it except North Dakota, which has none.
Why it matters
Registration deadlines and rules, not just voter eligibility itself, are one of the biggest practical barriers between someone who wants to vote and someone who actually can, since a missed deadline or an address mismatch can block a vote even from an otherwise fully eligible citizen.
Seen in the wild
The federal National Voter Registration Act of 1993, known as the Motor Voter law, requires most states to offer voter registration at DMV offices and other public agencies, and applies to 44 states plus the District of Columbia, with six states exempted because they already had election-day registration or no registration requirement at all.1