Your Voting Rights

To register to vote in Pennsylvania, you must be

• A United States citizen at least 30 days before the next election. 
• A resident of Pennsylvania and your election district for at least 30 days before the next election. 
• At least 18 years of age on the day of the next election. 

General Rules for Registration:

You can register to vote:

• Online through this application: Voter Registration Application
• Download and print a Voter Registration Form. To be registered in the next election, mail or deliver your application form to your county voter registration office at least 15 days before the next election. You can search for your county office: County Election Offices

Members of the Military and Overseas Civilian Voters

If you are a member of the military or an overseas civilian voter, you have options for how you register and vote in Pennsylvania. To register to vote you can:

To register to vote you can:

• Use any official voter registration form to register online, by mail or in person.
• Use the Federal Post Card Application (FPCA).  To receive the FPCA by e-mail, write to ST-UOCAVAApp@pa.gov.
• Request that the state mail you a paper voter registration form. E-mail your request to ST-UOCAVAQues@pa.gov.
• Use the Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot (FWAB).

College Students

If you are a college student in Pennsylvania, you can register and vote where you live while attending college in PA or at your prior home address. For details see the information below for College Students.

Not Sure if you are Registered?

Not sure if you are registered to vote? You can go to this website and Find Your Voter Registration Status

Military and Overseas Voters have two options for voting;

1. In-Person: If you are registered to vote and did not vote by absentee ballot, then you may vote at your assigned polling place on Election Day. Members of the military who are not registered to vote, may apply in person and vote at the County Election Office.
2. Absentee Ballot: If you cannot vote at your polling place in person on Election Day, you may be able to vote with an absentee ballot. Your absentee ballot request form must arrive at the County Board of Elections before Election Day. This means you must mail your application early enough so it arrives on time. 

You may request an absentee ballot in several ways: 

• Use any official absentee ballot application form to request an absentee ballot.
• Request that the state e-mail an absentee ballot application to your e-mail. 
• Request that the state mail you a paper absentee ballot application. 
• Complete and send a Federal Post Card Application form to your County Election Office. The United States Department of Defense distributes this form as Federal Form Number 76.
• Members of the military may send in a Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot form to your County Election Office. The United States Department of Defense distributes this form as Federal Form 186.

Only you or an adult member of your immediate family may submit your application for an absentee ballot.

For more information on voting for Military and Overseas Voters see: Information for Military and Overseas Voters

Students attending college in Pennsylvania have a choice of which address to use to register to vote and cast their votes:

• You can register and vote where you live while attending college in PA or at your prior home address, provided your family or guardian still resides there. If you are registered at your prior home address you must vote there either in person or by mail-in or absentee ballot.
• If you are registering where you live while attending college in PA, you can use either an on-campus or off-campus address.
• You can only be registered in one place at a time.

College students must meet the regular requirements to be eligible to vote in Pennsylvania:

• 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.

You can find more information for college students at Information for College Students

Every polling place in PA must have at least one accessible voting system. Sometimes this is the general voting system used by all voters, or it may be a separate system with features such as audio, tactile keys and other assistive technology.

Voters with a disability may get help voting. There are several ways in which disabled people in PA can exercise their right to vote.

You can read about the options available for voting at Accessible Voting in Pennsylvania 

You can get help voting, as long as the person who helps you:

• is not your employer or union representative
• is not the judge of elections

You do not need to get permission before each election to have someone help you vote, but you may be asked to sign a declaration stating that you need assistance at the polling place. This declaration is now available in Spanish, Traditional Chinese,  Simplified Chinese and Vietnamese. 

More information on language support for voting in Pennsylvania is available at Language Support.