How to check your voter registration
The short answer
Your state or territory runs the only authoritative registration lookup. Use the official tool for your jurisdiction, and give your details to that system rather than to any third party, including this one.
Go straight to the official source
Official source
Check your registration through Can I Vote
State-run lookup directory maintained by the association of state chief election officials.
Check your registration through Can I Vote
This link leaves WomanVoters and opens the official site. We never ask for the personal details the official system requires.
Official source
Open the USAGov registration status guide
Federal explanation of how to confirm that your registration is active.
Open the USAGov registration status guide
This link leaves WomanVoters and opens the official site. We never ask for the personal details the official system requires.
Why check even if you registered before
Registration records change without a request from you. States remove records after mail is returned undeliverable and after the notice and waiting period federal law requires. A move across a county line, a name change, or a long gap between elections can all leave a record inactive or filed somewhere you no longer live. Checking takes a minute and it is the only way to find a problem while there is still time to fix it.
What the official lookup usually asks for
Expect the state system to ask for some combination of your name, date of birth, county, and sometimes the last digits of a driver license number. Give that information only on the official site. Look at the address bar and confirm you are on a government domain before you type anything.
What to do if the lookup finds nothing
- Try alternate spellings, a maiden or former name, and the county where you last registered.
- Check whether your state requires a middle initial or a full legal first name.
- Contact your local election office directly. Our guide to state and local election offices lists the official directory.
- If your registration lapsed, register again and note your jurisdiction deadline.
What checking does not confirm
A registration lookup is not a ballot tracker. If you requested a mail ballot, use the ballot tracking tool your state provides, described in our vote by mail guide. A lookup also does not settle identification questions at the polls, which are covered in our voter identification guide.
What this site does
We do not run a lookup, we do not ask whether you are registered, and we do not keep a record of your visit beyond the aggregate page counts described in our privacy policy. Every button above sends you to a government system or to the directory maintained by the association of state chief election officials.
Questions worth asking your election office
- Is my registration active, inactive, or cancelled, and what does that status mean here?
- If my record is inactive, what exactly do I need to do to restore it before the next election?
- Does my county publish a separate lookup that updates faster than the statewide tool?
What the official record shows
Only the election authority holds your record
Statewide voter registration lists are maintained by state and local election officials under the Help America Vote Act. A lookup run by anyone else is a copy at best, and a copy can be out of date the day it is made.
A lookup answers a narrow question
Most official tools confirm whether a record exists, whether it is active, and often which polling place and districts are assigned. They do not confirm that a ballot you mailed was accepted unless the state runs a separate ballot tracking system.
Our perspective
Checking should never cost you privacy
A voter should be able to confirm a registration without handing personal details to a political organization, a data broker, or a publication like this one. We route you to the official system for that reason, and we log nothing about the trip.
This panel states what we believe. It is labeled, it is separate from the record above, and it never changes the voting instructions on this site.
The strongest argument against our view
Groups that run their own lookup tools argue they reach people who would never visit a government site, and that the convenience is worth the copy. The convenience is real. The risk is that a stale copy tells someone they are fine when the official record says otherwise.
What remains uncertain
Some jurisdictions update their public lookup on a delay, so a very recent registration may not appear immediately. If your record does not show up, contact your local election office before assuming it failed.
Sources
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National Association of Secretaries of State
State-run lookup directory maintained by the association of state chief election officials.
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USAGov, General Services Administration
Confirm your voter registration
Federal explanation of how to confirm that your registration is active.
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United States Election Assistance Commission
Register and vote in your state
Registration and voting instructions maintained for every state and territory.
Change history
This page has not been substantively changed since it was published on August 29, 2026.
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