After moving into a new place you’ve got a pretty clear to do list: arrange your furniture, unpack your boxes, change your ad
dress, and of course, make sure that all is good with your voter registration. Any time you make a major life change, such as changing your name or moving to a new address, you are required to update your voter registration accordingly. If you fail to do so, you may find that you’re ineligible to vote and not receive your ballot in the mail. To keep this from happening, updating your voter registering—or just registering to vote in general—should be right up there with your other major post-move tasks. Here’s how to do it.
Know your deadline
There’s a lot that you’ve got to get done in the post-move period, and it’s important to prioritize. Check the voter registration deadline in your state to see if you need to tackle this task right away, or if you can wait a little bit. In Washington State, your registration form must be received no later than eight days before Election Day.
Check if you’re already registered
The next thing you’ll need to do is see if you are already registered to vote. If you’ve moved to a new state the answer will automatically be “no,” and will require a new registration. But if you’ve moved in-state, there’s a chance that you’re already registered and will only need to update your information.
To check, head to Vote.org and enter in your information. You can search your information generally, or scroll down, select your state, and check your registration status on your state-specific look-up page.
How to register to vote in Washington State
- Washington State Voter Registration Form (English)
- Print a Voter Registration Form in Another Language
*Based on Information from moving.org