Voter Registration and Citizenship

Key Takeaways

Voter Registrations Through Motor Vehicle Bureaus

The National Voter Registration Act of 1993, also known as the Motor Voter Act, requires most states to include an opportunity to register to vote for people doing business with their bureau of motor vehicles. The NVRA requires state voter registration applications to state eligibility requirements and an attestation that applicants meet the requirements, including citizenship, under penalty of perjury. Six states are exempt from the NVRA because they offered Election Day registration when it passed-Idaho, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Two of these states-New Hampshire and Wyoming- have additional documentary proof of citizenship requirements to register to vote. Fifty-nine percent of new registrants nationwide are added to state voter registration databases through transactions at motor vehicle bureaus, according to the 2024 Election and Voting Administration Survey, conducted by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.

Using these transactions to ensure that only citizens are given the opportunity to register reduces the likelihood of noncitizens getting on voter rolls.

With all states now offering REAL ID-compliant licenses, the data at the BMV is better than ever. To obtain a REAL ID, either proof of citizenship (such as a birth certificate, U.S. passport or naturalization papers) or documents indicating lawful presence in the United States is required. A REAL ID card does not indicate citizenship; the same insignia is on an ID card for a citizen as for a lawfully present noncitizen. And yet, the information provided to obtain the REAL ID can be used to ensure that the option to register to vote at a BMV is offered only to those who have shown proof. (Some citizens may choose to not get a REAL ID, perhaps because an alternative state-issued, non-REAL ID-compliant driver's license may be less expensive. These citizens have the right to vote, too, but their information at the BMV would not prove citizenship.)

States that offer a paper application form to prospective new voters at BMVs can:

• Enhance training for BMV staff so they know to only offer paper forms to people who have shown a passport or birth certificate or other proof of citizenship, rather than handing the form to all people doing business at the BMV. This will reduce potential errors.
• Review the form to ensure that it not only has a check box to indicate citizenship but also requires an affidavit (a signature attesting to citizenship) and information on penalties associated with perjury. Having this information at the top of the form may be more effective than near the signature.

States that have an automatic voter registration application process at their BMVs can:

• Check citizenship at the BMV office. The software can be reviewed to ensure that only those who have shown proof of citizenship for BMV purposes are provided the opportunity to register to vote, or, in states that automatically register voters, to register them. In other words, if proof of citizenship has been shown at the BMV, voter registration proceeds. If the identification offered does not show citizenship (a green card, for instance), the software does not advance to voter registration. In Minnesota, which uses automatic voter registration, if a person at the BMV shows documentary proof of citizenship, they are automatically added to the rolls. If they are seeking a non-REAL ID driver's license, which can be obtained without showing proof of citizenship, they are provided information regarding voter registration and eligibility criteria. Anyone who shows a green card or similar document to obtain a driver's license is not offered voter registration. In Ohio, applicants for driver's licenses and state IDs are only offered voter registration if they provide or have previously provided proof of citizenship. In Georgia, the registration form asks for the driver's license number, and if the person doesn't have that, the last four digits of their social security number. These can be used to match up records.
• Use the automated system to capture alien registration numbers for noncitizens who are in the United States legally. (These people are not offered voter registration.) If at some point they register to vote, the alien registration number can be used to compare to the Department of Homeland Security's SAVE database (see below). In Georgia, 4,000 people were in "pending" status related to their citizenship in 2024; after checking SAVE records, 2,000 of them were shown to, in fact, be citizens and thus were added to the rolls.
• Anyone who has not been affirmatively identified as a citizen at the BMV can be kept in a separate list from those who have shown proof. Staff can contact people on the separate, or pending, list to determine their status. This is standard practice in Michigan, where the secretary of state oversees both the bureau of motor vehicles and the voter registration rolls. Since the advent of REAL ID, the number of errors has plummeted in Michigan, and likely throughout the nation.
• A BMV database can maintain images of documentation used to obtain a driver's license or state identification card. This is the case in Colorado and Oregon at least, and election officials can refer to that documentation if needed.

State Voter Registration Applications Completed Outside the BMV

While most people register to vote at the BMV, other methods are available. When offering registration on a paper or electronic form outside the BMV, it is common to have a checkbox for the applicant to indicate that they are, or are not, a citizen. This is done under penalty of perjury.

Registrations done on a state form (30%): For those who register to vote on a state form, whether downloading it, during an in-person interaction at an election office or as part of a third-party registration drive, they are likely to be asked to sign an affidavit attesting to their citizenship. Some states request the applicant's driver's license or state identity number on the form too, so the election officials can compare the registration form to data at the BMV to see if proof of citizenship (a birth certificate or passport or similar) was provided at that point. A social security number is not proof of citizenship.

Online voter registration (14%): Forty-two states plus the District of Columbia and Guam offer online voter registration. Most systems ask for the driver's license or state identity number. When that is the case, a new registration can be automatically compared to the data already on hand at the BMV, including information on whether they showed proof of citizenship for that transaction.

Election Day registration (4.8%): In 23 states, those who are eligible to vote but are not registered can show up at a polling place, prove eligibility including identity, residency and age, and be added to the voter rolls and vote. Citizenship is often ascertained at this point by an affidavit rather than by documentary proof. In some cases, Election Day registrants use a provisional ballot, which is counted only after the information provided is confirmed after the polls close. In all cases, the state can follow up to verify citizenship by checking the new registration against information from other sources, typically the BMV. If a new voter is shown to not to be a citizen, they can be charged with perjury.

Federal Voter Registration Applications

The federal government offers a voter registration application that is applicable in all states. (North Dakota is the only state that does not use voter registration, although it does maintain a list of people who vote.) The instructions on the form state that it is only for U.S. citizens, and the form starts with a checkbox: "Are you a citizen of the United States of America?" The form states that false statements carry a penalty for perjury.

The instructions for filling out the federal form include state-specific information. That information includes deadlines, preregistration if available and, again, that all states require a registrant to be a U.S. citizen. These state-specific instructions do not include a requirement for documentary proof of citizenship in the handful of states that require it. In 2016 in Fish v. Kobach the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit ruled that state law cannot require documentary proof of citizenship on top of the federal form. The federal form must be accepted as-is in all states.

No centralized data exists on the use of federal forms, although election officials indicate its use has dropped considerably since the adoption of online voter registration in most states. One state example: In 2023, Virginia received 1,735 federal forms out of approximately 300,000 new registrations, or 0.6% of new registrations.

In 2025, President Trump issued an executive order requiring the EAC to update the national mail voter registration form and require registrants using the federal form to provide proof of citizenship documentation. This section of the order was permanently enjoined by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Oct. 31, 2025. Per the court order, the EAC may not modify the form to include documentary proof of citizenship. The federal form must be accepted as-is in all states.