# Voter Registration Q

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-registration-q/227439>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 4, 2004, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-registration-q/227439 "2004-02-04T04:09:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![sleeping](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@sleeping](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleeping)\
**Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-registration-q/227439/1 "2004-02-04T04:09:41Z")

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Having turned 18 this past month, I’ve been thinking about registering to vote in the coming election. However, I’m not sure where to register. Although I currently live in New York, I’m going to be moving to Baltimore (for college) in August/September. I’ve read that, in order to vote in an election, one needs to have lived in the area in which they are registered for at least 3 months. Seeing as how I’ll be moving toward the end of August, 3 months would be cutting it a bit close. So what should I do? Should I register in New York and then ask for an absentee ballot? _Can_ I do that, seeing as how my residency will have changed by the time of the election?

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**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\
**Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-registration-q/227439/2 "2004-02-04T04:14:57Z")

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College students are allowed to register in their home state and vote by absentee ballot. Or you can choose to vote in Maryland. Just don’t try to vote in both, or you’re committing fraud.

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**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\
**Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-registration-q/227439/3 "2004-02-04T08:13:18Z")

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[The State of Maryland](http://www.elections.state.md.us/citizens/registration/) has no such “3-month” rule for residency.

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**Author:** ![Will\_Repair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a698b9/32.png) [@Will\_Repair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Will_Repair)\
**Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-registration-q/227439/4 "2004-02-05T01:35:34Z")

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Where do you consider home? I dare say that should be your criteria for voter registration. Home is where you are interested in affecting local politics, city council, mayor, etc.

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**Author:** ![sleeping](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@sleeping](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleeping)\
**Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-registration-q/227439/5 "2004-02-08T17:52:15Z")

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Thanks, guys.

I guess I’ll be pondering **AcidKid** ’s question for a while (considering that Maryland might be a swing state).