Voting FAQs

The Pennsylvania 2024 Primary Elections will be held Tuesday, April 23rd. Mail-in ballots must arrive at the County Elections Office by this date. The last day to register to vote in PA and be eligible to vote in the 2024 Primaries is Monday, April 8th.

Pennsylvania is a closed primary state, which means the party affiliation you choose when registering to vote determines which candidates you can vote for – Democrat voters can only vote for Democratic candidates, and Republican voters can only vote for Republican candidates. Third party and unaffiliated voters cannot vote for either party’s candidates. All registered voters can vote on ballot measures, and in any special elections that happen to be on their ballot.

The Pennsylvania 2024 Presidential Election will be held Tuesday, November 5th. Mail-in ballots must arrive at the County Elections Office by this date. The last day to register to vote in PA and be eligible to vote in the 2024 Presidential Elections is Monday, October 15th.

The requirements for being able to vote in the United States are being at least 18 years old and have U.S. citizenship (permanent legal residents without citizenship cannot). You must also meet the residency requirements and voter registration deadline in a state, but the details of those requirements vary by state. Otherwise eligible voters living in U.S. territories (not one of the 50 states) can vote in some national elections, but not all.

The U.S. federal and state governments share responsibilities and rights in setting rules regarding voter registration and voting. Below are some of the things each level determines.

Allegheny County is the county that contains Pittsburgh (and many other towns and cities). Counties generally set voter registration policies, as opposed to individual cities, so we specify that the information below is accurate to Allegheny County. If you live outside of Pittsburgh but within Allegheny county, these rules and processes apply to you still.

Yes, as long as you meet the general requirements to register to vote in the United States*. You must reside in Allegheny County for at least 30 days in order to register to vote. Your dorm or apartment counts as a residence, even if it is temporary and your permanent address is outside of the County. If you want to register to vote in Allegheny County, you follow the rules and processes described below.

Important! If your address changes between years, such as moving dorms or apartments, you will need to update your voter registration (see How do I update my voter registration? When do I have to update it? in this section). This applies even if you are within the same building, but have a different room or apartment number.

*In Pennsylvania, you may register to vote at 17-years-old as long as you will be 18 by the time of the next election

There are a few different ways to register to vote in Allegheny County, and the recommended method varies based on if you have a Pennsylvania driver’s license / PennDOT ID or not.

If you do have a Pennsylvania driver’s license / PennDOT ID:

Register to vote on TurboVote or head directly to the Pennsylvania online voter registration application. You can also register to vote through a paper application or by going to the County Office Building.

If you do not have a Pennsylvania driver’s license / PennDOT ID:

You may still utilize the online applications outlined above, but PittVotes has been continually informed of issues of registering to vote online without a valid Pennsylvania ID. We recommend you either register to vote using a paper application (see Can PittVotes help me register to vote? in this section for more information) or by going to the County Office Building.

You can download a paper voter registration form by downloading and printing the one below or visiting PittVotes at a voter registration table or at the PittServes office (130 William Pitt Union). Here’s some useful information for filling it out:

Required information:

• Boxes 1 – 8 and 14 are required to be filled out on all applications
• Box 9 is required if you are already registered to vote somewhere (see What happens if I am registered somewhere else already? in this section.)
• Boxes 12 and 13 are required if you want to request a mail-in ballot
• Box 15 is required if someone physically helped you fill out the form, such as writing down the answers or reading the questions out loud for you

Filling out the form:

• Although the form says use black or blue ink, we recommend only using black ink
• Box 1 asks you for your last name before your first name, make sure to not get the two mixed!
• The question asking your race is optional
• If you live in a dorm, write the street address and building name on the “Address” line and your dorm room number on the “Apt. number” line
• Your county is Allegheny, your municipality is Pittsburgh. Do not abbreviate Pittsburgh (as Pitt, PGH, etc.)
• You only need to list the year for the “I have lived at this address since” line
• If you have a Pennsylvania driver’s license / PennDOT ID, include both that and the last four digits of your social security number
• Double-check that you’ve signed your name and printed your name and written the date on Box 14 before finishing!

Submitting the Form:

• If you plan to mail the application, it is not pre-paid and you will have to supply a stamp. PittVotes will mail out completed voter registration forms free-of-charge!
• Address the envelope to the Allegheny County Elections Office, 542 Forbes Ave, Suite 609, Pittsburgh, PA 15219
• Make sure to write your return address in the top-left corner
• You can also drop off your voter registration application in-person to the County Office Building.

When you are registering to vote, there will be a question asking you for a reason for registering to vote. You will choose “New Registration” if you are registered outside of Pennsylvania or “Change of Address” if you are registered somewhere else in Pennsylvania. When you submit your registration, your old one will be cancelled for you, as you can only be registered to vote at one address at a time. You will no longer be eligible to vote at your previous address and instead you will vote in the elections that apply to your current address.

There are no separate forms or processes to update your voter registration in Pennsylvania, you will simply fill out the voter registration form again and indicate your reason for submitting your application.

You will need to update your voter registration if any of the following happen:

• Your Pennsylvania address changes
• Where you receive mail changes
• You have a change to your legal name or sex designation
• Your contact information (phone or email) changes
• You gain or change a need for assistance to vote
• You want to change the political party your voter registration is affiliated with

You do not need to update your voter registration every time you move, just when there is an upcoming election you want to vote in. For example, if you move home for the summer but return to campus in the Fall, you do not need to register at your home address and again at your local address. Your voter registration must match the address where you reside at the time of the election.

Updating your voter registration has the same deadlines as registering to vote; it must be done 15 days before the next election in order for it to apply. Otherwise, it will not apply until the next election.

Your polling location will be listed on your voter registration card, which will arrive by mail after submitting your voter registration application. You can also use TurboVote to check your registration and polling location. For easy reference, here are the polling locations for University of Pittsburgh residences:

Any registered voter in Pennsylvania can request a mail-in ballot. The option to request a mail-in ballot appears on the online application and some paper forms. Already-registered voters can apply for a mail-in ballot online or re-register to vote (see How do I update my voter registration? When do I have to update it?). Applications for mail-in ballots must arrive at the County Office Building 7 days before the election, and mail-in ballots must arrive by 8 PM the day of the election to be counted.

The mail-in ballot will have all of the same elections and candidates as the in-person ballot, and the envelope you get it in will have instructions on how to complete and send back the ballot. Mail-in ballots can show up as early as three weeks in advance of the election, but those who register to vote or request a mail-in ballot closer to the deadline may receive it later. You can check the status of your mail-in ballot here.

If you miss the deadline to request a mail-in ballot, you can request an Emergency Absentee Ballot starting at 5 PM 7 days before the election. This application must arrive to the County Office Building by 8 PM the day of the election. You will need to go to the County Office Building to pick up the ballot, it will not be mailed to you. If you cannot turn in the form or pick up the ballot from the County Office Building yourself, you can authorize someone else to do it for you with this form.

If you decide to vote in-person after receiving your mail-in ballot, you will need to go to your polling place (see Where do I vote in-person? in this section) and bring your mail-in ballot with you to give to the people overseeing your polling place. If you lost or didn’t receive your ballot, you will still be able to vote with a provisional ballot. Once it’s verified that you did not already send in a mail-in ballot, your provisional ballot will be counted. You may not submit a mail-in ballot and then go vote in-person, this is voting fraud.

It is important to know that Pennsylvania requires that any application or ballot must be received by the deadline. This means that if you are submitting anything on paper (an application or a ballot), it must arrive at the Allegheny County Office Building before it closes that day. Dropping it in the mail and getting it postmarked by the deadline is not sufficient.

We absolutely can! PittVotes offers a few different services regarding supporting University of Pittsburgh students in registering to vote. With us, you can:

• Get a paper voter registration application
• Get your finished voter registration application mailed for free
• Have the voter registration application explained
• Have your completed voter registration form reviewed to make sure everything is filled out correctly

All of these services can be accessed at our voter registration tables, which we host frequently throughout the semester leading up to a voter registration deadline, or you can stop by the PittServes office at 130 William Pitt Union and ask for assistance with registering to vote.

If you are registering to vote in a different county in Pennsylvania, you can follow almost all of the same information as that provided in the Pittsburgh / Allegheny County Voting & Elections section. The only difference will be where you need to mail or turn in paper applications and ballots. Visit this page to find the information for your county’s Election Officials.

If you are registering to vote in a different state, the process is different in each one. TurboVote can help you start the process of registering to vote regardless of your state and will provide instructions on the steps required to finish it. See General U.S. Voting Information > Who sets the rules for voter registration and voting? for resources to find different information on voting based on your state.

You do not have to change your voter registration if you legally live somewhere else and only live in Pittsburgh during the school year. You can decide if you want to vote in Pennsylvania / Allegheny County / Pittsburgh elections or the elections back home. However, if you permanently move to the area, you do have to change your voter registration as you will no longer be eligible to vote at your previous place of residence.

Depending on how far you are from where you are registered to vote, you may have the option to go to the polls the day of the election and vote in-person. If that is not an option for you, you will need to look up your county / state’s policies and processes on requesting and submitting an absentee ballot or early in-person voting. See here to find that information based on your state. If you are voting in a different Pennsylvania county, see Pittsburgh / Allegheny County Voting & Elections for information on how to apply for and submit an absentee ballot.

No, registering to vote in a new location will cancel your prior voter registration. You may be able to switch your voter registration between locations to vote in different places from election to election, but you cannot vote in one election from multiple places. This is voter fraud.