Voter Registration
To election officials, voter registration is the first step a person needs to take on the journey to be a voter. In contrast, many voters don’t begin thinking about elections until a candidate or issue inspires them.
That’s why CCD is excited to see efforts to modernize voter registration like automatic voter registration, same-day voter registration, and online voter registration. Whatever your voter registration policy, we’ve got research-backed best practices to support your office implement an inviting voter registration process.
Tools
Voter registration subtopics
Automatic voter registration (AVR)
22 states and DC have already begun modernizing voter registration by adopting AVR, and CCD has been there to support implementation for most of them.
See our best practices guide to designing and implementing AVR. It’s written for both election offices and partners in the department of motor vehicles and other agencies.
In 2023, we conducted research on improving opt-in rates. Instead of asking people if they want to register, we tested whether a consent model, where people are asked whether they consent to having their data shared with their election office for voting registration purposes.
Research: Testing Medicaid AVR with data consent
Online voter registration
42 states and DC offer online registration.
How do you make sure that the widest range of people can register to vote? The best place to start is with online voter registration forms that use best practices in web accessibility.
Read our article on making online voter registration accessible to people with disabilities.
Printed voter registration forms
Explore our Workbook: Creating accessible forms for print + PDF. In it you’ll find our free -to-use and adapt InDesign template.
See examples of Voter registration forms in Pennsylvania (and others)
Articles
- How journalism can help people register to vote
- Designing great language support for voter registration
- Asking the right question at the right time
- Streamlining and nudging in voter registration
Other resources
Checklist for Securing Voter Registration Data
U.S. Election Assistance Commission
Access denied: Barriers to online voter registration for citizens with disabilities
ACLU
Webinar: Automatic Voter Registration at Motor Vehicle Agencies
Center for Tech and Civic Life
Webinar: Testing Voter Registration Modernizations
Center for Tech and Civic Life and CCD
Automatic Voter Registration: Two NVRA-Compliant Models
Nidhi Shah, Project Vote, July 2016
Plain language analysis by Whitney Quesenbery
CCD’s work on voter registration was made possible through support from the Center for Secure and Modern Elections and Democracy Fund.