Registering to vote
You should register to vote where your home is. That could be either:
- where you live while attending college in Pennsylvania (regardless of whether you live on or off campus) OR
- your prior home address in Pennsylvania, if your family or guardian still resides there.
Keep in mind: You must meet the general eligibility requirements to register and vote in that district. That means you must be a U.S. citizen at least 18 years of age and have lived in the district for at least 30 days.
The deadline to register to vote is 15 days before an election. If you are a freshman or a transfer student just moving to a new district for school, you can register where you live while attending college as long as you moved there 30 days before the election.
Regardless of where you register, you can only vote once in each election.
Eligibility requirements to register to vote in Pennsylvania
To be eligible to vote in Pennsylvania, you must:
- Be a citizen of the United States for at least one month before the next primary, special, municipal, or general election.
- Be a resident of Pennsylvania and the election district in which you want to register and vote for at least 30 days before the next primary, special, municipal, or general election.
- Be at least 18 years of age on or before the day of the next primary, special, municipal, or general election.
Out-of-state students studying in Pennsylvania
If you moved from outside of PA to attend college in PA, you may register to vote in Pennsylvania if you meet the requirements listed above. Remember, you can only vote once in each election.
Important factors to consider when deciding where to register to vote
- Will you vote in person or by mail? Depending on where you are registered, you may need to request an absentee or mail-in ballot for an upcoming election.
- Consider where you will be after the upcoming election and plan ahead. If you are graduating right after a May primary election, you may need to update your registration to a new address before the November election.
Make a plan for every election
College students should plan ahead if they are going to be in different locations in Pennsylvania during different times of the year. For example, if you are registered to vote at the address where your family lives, and you are not able to get to the polling place in your home voting district on Election Day because you will be at school, you should plan to apply for an absentee or mail-in ballot so that you can cast your vote.
Frequently asked questions
Here are some frequently asked questions about voting as a college student. Keep in mind that each situation is different. If you have a question that isn't answered here, contact the county election office in your college's voting district.
No. You will only show up in the poll book in the election district in which you are registered. Each county is responsible for maintaining its own voter registration rolls. If you are registered in another county in Pennsylvania, the county where your campus is located cannot verify that you are, in fact, an eligible, registered voter. You can, however, vote using a mail-in ballot. You should request your mail-in ballot by October 29.
Yes. Like all other Americans, U.S. citizens born in Puerto Rico are eligible to vote in Pennsylvania provided that the general eligibility requirements are met. To be eligible to register to vote, you must be 1) a U.S. citizen; 2) a resident of the voting district in which you are registering for at least 30 days before the election; and 3) at least 18 years of age on Election Day.
Voters used to need to justify voting absentee until the law changed to allow no-excuse mail voting. Now, all PA voters can request a mail-in ballot with no excuse required or reason provided. That means that college students can vote using either a no-excuse mail-in ballot or an absentee ballot. Apply for a ballot online.
If you are studying abroad and will be out of the country on Election Day, visit the Federal Voting Assistance Program or the Department of State website for information on how to vote while abroad.
You will not be able to register to vote in PA for the next election. All voters must live in the d election district where they intend to vote in Pennsylvania for at least 30 days prior to the election to be eligible to vote in it.
You can go to your former polling place in person on Election Day and vote in your former district. You must inform the judge of elections that your address has changed before you vote. You can also vote in your former district using a mail-in ballot on a one-time basis.
Under Pennsylvania law, students may choose to register to vote in their college voting district, provided that they have lived in that district for at least 30 days before the election.
If you have registered to vote in Pennsylvania after being registered in another state, you should notify the other jurisdiction of your intent to cancel your registration there. You can find a list of ways to cancel voter registration in each jurisdiction from the Election Assistance Commission.
College students voting toolkit
You can help spread the word about the voting and elections via your communications channels, including social media, websites, newsletters, emails, etc. These materials are aimed towards college students but you can find other voting materials on our voter education toolkit.
Voting for College Students PowerPoint Presentation
