Should I register to vote at my campus address or my home address?
Short answer
Both are legal, and you can only be registered in one place at a time. Register at your campus address if you want a vote in the city, county, and state where you spend most of the year. Stay registered at home if you care more about the races there, and vote by absentee ballot from campus.
Last reviewed Jul 25, 2026. Every date below comes from VoteU's election dataset, checked against state election authorities' own pages. VoteU is an independent nonpartisan project, not a government site.
Side by side
Campus address
Home address
What is on your ballot
Federal, state, and local races where your school is
Federal, state, and local races where your family lives
How you vote
In person, or by mail if your state allows it
Almost always by absentee or mail ballot
Deadline you track
Your campus state's deadline
Your home state's deadline
What usually goes wrong
Residency questions in stricter states, and re-registering every time you move
Missed request deadlines, mail that never arrives, signature mismatches
Best if
You plan to be in town for the next few years and care about local government
You go home often, or a race back home matters more to you
How to switch to your campus address
1Open your campus state's official registration portal. Your VoteU state page links to it directly.
2Register at your campus street address. Registering at a new address is how you move your registration; there is no separate transfer form in most states.
3Give your previous address on the form if it asks. That is what triggers the old record to be cancelled.
4Check your registration status a week or two later on your state's official lookup, and contact your old county if the old record is still active.
5Do all of this before your state's deadline in the table below.
What address do I write for a dorm?
Use the physical street address of your residence hall plus your room or unit, not the campus mailbox number and not a P.O. box. Residence life or the registrar can give you the format your county board of elections expects, and many schools publish it during move-in week specifically for this reason.
Deadlines for the November 3, 2026 general election
51
jurisdictions voting on this date
Oct 4, 2026
earliest registration deadline
Nov 3, 2026
latest registration deadline
21 days
median lead time before election day
Voter registration and absentee ballot request deadlines by state for the election on Nov 3, 2026
Can I be registered at both my campus and my parents' address?
You should be registered in only one place at a time. Registering at a new address is normally what cancels the old record, and voting in two places in the same federal election is a crime under 52 U.S.C. § 10307(e).
If I register at school, can I still vote in my home town's local election?
No. Local races are decided by the voters registered in that jurisdiction, so registering at your campus address takes your home town's local races off your ballot and puts your campus town's races on it.
I live off campus in an apartment. Does that change anything?
No. The rule is the same: register at the address where you actually live. An off-campus lease often makes the paperwork easier, because a utility bill or lease in your name is a common proof of address.
What if I go home for the summer?
Leaving for the summer does not by itself end your residency at your campus address. What matters is where you live during the year. If you permanently move back, register again at the new address.