You must attach identification to your voter registration form if you are registering to vote for the first time. If you registered to vote by mail on or after January 1, 2003, you will be required to show identification when you vote for the first time in a federal election. However, you can also send in a copy of your identification with your voter registration form. Acceptable identification must include your name and the address at which you are registered to vote.
Examples include:
- A current and valid driver’s license
- State issued identification card
- A current utility bill
- A bank statement
- A paycheck
- A government check
- Other government document showing your name and address
If you send in a copy of your identification with your mail-in voter registration form, it may not be returned to you. If you do not provide such identification, the Help America Vote Act of 2002 requires that you may only cast a provisional ballot which will be counted later, but only after your eligibility to vote has been determined.
If you provide your driver’s license number or the last four digits of your Social Security number on the voter registration form and those numbers are verified, you will not have to provide identification when you register to vote or at the polls. If you do not provide those numbers or if they cannot be verified (you will notified by your town or city clerk if that happens), then you have to provide identification either at town or city hall prior to the election or at the polls when you vote. Acceptable identification is a copy of any of the following:
- Current and valid photo identification
- Government check or official document showing name and address
- Current utility bill showing name and address
- Paycheck or stub showing name and address
