By Dan Diorio

As part our lead-up to the 2016 elections, NCSL’s elections team is looking at how certain election topics have changed across the country since we last elected a president. In the April issue of our elections newsletter, The Canvass, we look at same-day voter registration.

Same-day voter registration allows any qualified resident of a state to go to the polls or to an election official’s office to both register to vote and vote a ballot on the same day. That same day could be Election Day, during the early voting period or another day before the election. Here’s how things have changed since 2012:

In 2012: 11 states and the District of Columbia offered same-day voter registration.

In 2016: While the number has remained almost the same—12 states and the District of Columbia—the states have changed and three more have enacted legislation authorizing same-day voter registration.

Major changes:

• Colorado enacted same-day voter registration as part of a large election reform package in 2013.
• Maryland enacted same-day registration but only during the early voting period in 2013.
• North Carolina repealed same-day voter registration in 2013 (North Carolina had same-day registration during the early voting period only, not on Election Day).
• Hawaii passed same-day voter registration in 2014, which takes effect in 2018.
• Illinois enacted same-day voter registration in 2014.
• Ohio, in 2014, did away with a form of same-day registration, known as “golden week,” in which  early voting began 35 days before Election Day. Voter registration was and is available up until 30 days before Election Day, and during that overlapping period voters could register and cast a vote on the same day.
• Vermont enacted same-day voter registration legislation in 2015, which takes effect in 2017.

Be sure to subscribe to The Canvass for more election updates. See the March issue for a look at how Early and No-Excuse Absentee Voting changed from 2012 to 2016.

Dan Diorio is a policy specialist in NCSL's Elections Program.

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