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Voting Resources: Exercising Your Right to Vote: How to Vote

> Register to Vote! (in New Jersey or other states)

How to Vote

1.  Use column #1 to determine if you are eligible to vote.

2.  Use column #2 to register to vote in your state of residence.

3.  Use column #3 to learn about your options for voting (in-person, early, by mail, by drop box)

1. Am I eligible to vote?

To register to vote in New Jersey, you must be:

  • A United States citizen
  • At least 17 years old, though you may not vote until you have reached the age of 18
  • A resident of the county in which you will be voting for at least 30 days before the election
  • (For college students): You have the option to register from your college address OR your home address
  • (For formerly incarcerated individuals): A person not currently serving a sentence of incarceration, as the result of a conviction of any indictable offense under the laws of New Jersey, another state or the United States, may register to vote in New Jersey.   

**NOTE: If you attend college in New Jersey, you have the option to register with your college address OR your home address--even if your home address is in a different state.  By law, you may only be registered and vote in one state.

You are not eligible to register to vote if:

  • You are currently serving a sentence of incarceration as the result of a conviction of an indictable offense under the laws of New Jersey, another state, or the United States.

For more information on voter registration and eligibility for students in New Jersey, visit the official New Jersey Voter Information Portal.

To find information about voting eligibility rules in all other states, visit Vote.Org and select your state of residence.

2. Register to Vote

Image source: KRWG Public Media

Other Resources:

3. Voting Options (In-person, early, mail, drop box)

In-person voting:

Early voting:

Voting by Mail & Absentee Voting:

Drop Box:

A ballot drop box is a secure, locked structure operated by election officials where voters may deliver their ballots from the time they receive them in the mail up to the time polls close at 8 pm on Election Day.  There will be at least 10 drop boxes located throughout each county [in New Jersey], which will be available 24 hours a day.  Drop boxes will be under surveillance by security cameras and collected daily by county election officials. [New Jersey Division of Elections]