Frequently Asked Questions

• Online – Register at www.VoteWA.gov if you have a WA driver's license or id card.  (This must be completed no later than 8 days before the election.)
• By Mail, email or fax – Complete and return this form.  (In order for this form to be processed, it must be received no later than 8 days before the election.)
• In Person – This may be done in an Elections Office or other designated location during business hours through Election Day.  On Election Day, you may register at the Elections Office in Coupeville from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Voter registration can be confirmed online at www.VoteWA.gov or by contacting the Elections Office.

• No.  In Washington, you may register as a "Future Voter" when you are 16 years old.
• Your registration will be contained in the system but will not be activated until you are 18 years old.

• The Office of the Secretary of State works with the Department of Licensing, the Social Security Administration, Department of Health and the Department of Corrections to receive updated information.
• Washington State is a member of ERIC (Electronic Records Information Center) which compares voter registrations and motor vehicle license data across 30 states.
• The most important resource of registration information is the voter.  Make sure your registration is up to date by visiting www.VoteWA.gov

• If your new address is in Washington State, you can update your registration by any of the methods above.
• If your new address is not in Washington State, you can cancel your registration by completing this form.
• Voters cannot update their WA State Voter Registration using the US Postal Service address change forms.

Washington voters do not register by party.

• Voter registrations by mail, email, fax, online and motor voter must be received by an elections official no later than 8 days before an election in order to vote in that election.
• In person registration is the only option to register beginning 8 days prior to Election and may be completed up to 8:00 p.m. on the date of the election.

Information regarding voting for military members and dependents is available at:  www.fvap.gov.

Information regarding voting for overseas registrants is available at:  www.fvap.gov.

• Register online at www.VoteWA.gov or by using a hardcopy WA State Voter Registration form.  For your protection, we urge voters not to register online at social media sites.
• Which address to use – You can use either your hometown address or the address where you live at school.  Your choice depends on where you claim your legal residency.
• If you keep your hometown address for residency – You can use your hometown address as your residential address and your school address as your mailing address.  If your school address will change between years, use the school address as a temporary mailing address and remember to update at the end of each school year.

• No.  State and Federal law require that your registration is based on your physical address.  The address where you physically live must be included in your registration.
• You may use a PO Box as your mailing address.

• You can register to vote in the county in which you live in WA State.  Voter registration forms are available at libraries and County Election Offices.
• Register by providing a place where you spend most of your time as your residential address; you can list another place where you can receive mail as your mailing address.
• Voters must fill out the residential address line on a voter registration form so that we can assign their voting precinct.  This address can be a park, intersection, or another place listed on a map.
• Voters must also provide a mailing address to which their ballot can be mailed.  The mailing address can be the address of a friend or relative, the address of a shelter or center where you can receive mail, or it can be General Delivery at a post office.
• Ballots can be returned by USPS mail, no stamp required, or ballots can be dropped in any Official County Ballot Drop Box, no postage required.

• You maintain the right to vote with a misdemeanor conviction, or a conviction in juvenile court, even if you are still in jail.
• Citizens with felony convictions have their right to vote restored automatically as long as you are not currently serving a sentence of total confinement in prison.
• If you were convicted of a felony in another state or in federal court, your right to vote is restored automatically, provided you are not currently incarcerated for that felony.
• Once your rights are restored, you must register in order to vote.  If you were registered before your conviction, you must re-register.  You do not need a certificate of discharge to register to vote.

• Yes.  Under Washington law, voter registration records are public record for use in political purposes.
• RCW 29A.08.710 states that specific information in the voter registration records must be provided upon request. The public information consists of: name, address, jurisdiction, gender, date of birth, vote record, date of registration and registration number.
• No other items in the in the voter records are public information (i.e. signatures, phone number, email, driver's license number, etc.)
• Exemptions to the public record include persons under the age of 18 years and participants in the Washington State Address Confidentiality Program.