Plenty of Americans will wait to register to vote in the Nov. 8 election, if at all.
Nearly 35% of U.S. citizens eligible to vote in 2012 weren’t registered, up from only 29% unregistered in 2008, according to Census data. Online searches may offer an early look at an uptick in people looking to vote.
In past elections, registration and voting related searches have usually peaked around October, when most registration deadlines occur, which may indicate that some voters tend not to even look up how to register until the last minute.
Only 11 states and the District of Columbia, however, offer voters the option to register on Election Day, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. That number doesn’t include North Dakota, which is the only state that doesn’t require traditional voter registration.
Regardless of how late the registration date is in your state, check the requirements for registering there, as there could be some requirements that could make for last-minute dash—such as a photo ID.
Below is a list of the last possible date to register to vote in each state.
September
19: Puerto Rico
October
8: Mississippi, South Carolina, U.S. Virgin Islands
9: Alaska, Rhode Island
10: American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, Hawaii
11: Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas
12: Missouri
14: New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma
15: Delaware
17: Virginia
18: Kansas, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, West Virginia
19: Massachusetts,
24: Alabama, California, South Dakota,
31: Washington
November
1: Utah
2: Vermont
3: Maryland
8 (Election Day): Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Wyoming
- Here's What's in the Debt Ceiling Deal
- How Worried Should the World Be of China's New COVID Wave?
- Succession Was a Race to the Bottom, And Everybody Won
- What Erdoğan’s Victory Means for Turkey—and the World
- The Ancient Roots of Psychotherapy
- How Drag Culture Inspired Ursula
- Drought Crisis Spurs U.S.-Mexico Collaboration
- Florence Pugh Might Just Save the Movie Star From Extinction