Help Your Congregation Register to Vote
Any church can hand out voter registration forms and provide the information necessary for people to fill and submit their own.
Ready to Print and Hand Out Immediately
Handing out blank forms takes no county appointment and forms can be printed on-demand. That means you can immediately provide your congregation with the information and forms needed to complete voter registration for themselves.
Voters are responsible for submitting their own forms to their county election office. You just provide the forms and the information they need to submit their own registration.
Everything You Need To Know
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01
Pick a Day
Set the date yourself and tell people how long they have. Each state fixes its own deadline, and vote.gov (opens in a new tab) routes people to theirs.
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02
Know the Deadline
Each state has a final deadline for submitting a voter registration form. You should plan to handout forms before the deadline, with enough time for people to submit their registrations.
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03
Print the Forms
Download, print, and place the forms in an easily accessible area during your normal service.
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04
Tell Them Where to Send It
Direct each person on how and when to submit their forms in accordance with your local voter registration requirements.
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05
Know Where & When to Vote
Find out where the official polling locations are and the dates for voting in your local elections.
Handing Out Forms FAQ
Do we need permission to hand out voter registration forms?
No. Handing out blank forms and helping people fill them in is open to any church in any state, with no appointment and no training. The requirements that do exist attach to collecting completed forms, which is a different thing.
Can we help somebody fill out their form?
Yes. You can read the questions aloud, explain what a box is asking for, and write down the answers a person gives you. The form is theirs throughout, and they sign it themselves.
What do we do with a form somebody fills in at the table?
Give it back to them. On this path the person keeps their own form and submits it themselves, which is what keeps the day simple and keeps your church clear of the rules that apply to collecting.
What if somebody leaves a completed form behind?
Hold it for them and let them know it is there. Do not send it on. Passing along someone else’s completed form is the step that triggers state requirements, and those differ by state, so it is not a favor to do on the spot.
Where does the form go once it is filled in?
To the election office named in the instructions that come with it, which is set by where the person lives. Point people at the instruction pages rather than answering from memory, because the address and the deadline both vary.
Do we need to know our state’s rules to do this?
For handing out forms, no. For anything beyond that, yes, and they vary enough that a general answer would be wrong. Your state’s election office publishes what applies, and the federal commission keeps an index of all fifty at its state pages (opens in a new tab).