Why You Might Be Out of Luck Trying to Register to Vote Online

Handling voter registration online is one of the biggest modern conveniences available to US voters, and it's one you might be considering with less than three weeks to go before the 2024 general election. Unfortunately, it's a convenience you might have to go without, depending on where you live.

Early voting is already underway in roughly half the country for this fall's general election between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, and voter registration deadlines have passed in most of them as well. In most states, as well as Washington, DC, residents have the option to register by mail, in person or online. However, for a handful of states, online registration isn't an option at all, so residents there will have to take other steps to get signed up.

Based on recent statistics, registration has been surging lately, and it's likely that US residents all across the country are still keen to get registered. Last month, Vote.org reported that over 150,000 people used its services to register on National Voter Registration Day, which was Sept. 17. By comparison, the site registered just under 280,000 voters in all of 2023. Time to register is running out, so here are the states where residents will need to go a little farther than the computer to get the process moving.

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Which states don't have online registration?

The following seven states don't offer any sort of online registration option:

• Arkansas
• Mississippi
• Montana
• New Hampshire
• South Dakota
• Texas
• Wyoming

These states have a combined population of about 40 million people, with the majority of them, 30 million, in Texas.

In these states, voters will have to make do with mail and in-person registration options. Unfortunately, the deadlines for those other methods have passed in Arkansas, Mississipppi and Texas, so any residents in those states who haven't already registered are out of luck this year. A more complete breakdown of the registration deadlines in each of these states and what options you have can be found further down.

It's worth adding that North Dakota also doesn't offer online registration because it doesn't use registration at all. Residents in the Peace Garden State need to present valid ID at their polling place to prove they're eligible to vote.

How much time do I have to register if I live in one of these states?

CNET has created an interactive map of the US that lets you find your registration deadline simply by hovering your cursor over your state. You can also read on for the details, from the US government's Vote.gov website.

State deadlines

• Arkansas: Registrations by mail must be postmarked by Monday, Oct. 7. The in-person deadline was also Monday, Oct. 7.
• Mississippi: Registrations by mail must be postmarked by Monday, Oct. 7. The in-person deadline was also Monday, Oct. 7.
• Montana: Registrations by mail must be postmarked by Monday, Oct. 7. In-person registration can be done all the way up through Election Day.
• New Hampshire: Registrations by mail must be received by Election Day, Nov. 5. In-person registration can also be done all the way up through Election Day.
• South Dakota: Registrations by mail must be received by Monday, Oct. 21. The in-person deadline is also Monday, Oct. 21.
• Texas: Registrations by mail must be postmarked by Monday, Oct. 7. The in-person deadline was also Monday, Oct. 7.
• Wyoming: Registrations by mail must be received by Monday, Oct. 21. In-person registration can be done all the way up through Election Day.

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