With the election just around the corner, here’s what you need to know before voting in Vermont and New Hampshire on Nov. 3, including changes made since the last statewide elections in 2024.

New Hampshire

Where do I vote?

There’s a complete list of all the 300+ polling places in New Hampshire online at app.sos.nh.gov/statelistclerkandpolling. (SOS stands for the Secretary of State’s office, which oversees elections in New Hampshire). It includes the voting hours.

Am I registered to vote?

City clerks are now required to update voting checklists every year and remove people who haven’t voted in the previous five years, even if they still live in town and meet other voting requirements. By some reports, 100,000 names were removed from checklists after the requirement was tightened.

To make sure you’re still registered to vote in your town or ward, check the state database at app.sos.nh.gov/voterinformation.

If you’re not there, get registered! But don’t panic: you can always register at the polls on Election Day, Nov. 3.

How to register to vote

To register to vote, you have to prove you are at least 18, a U.S. citizen, and live in the area served by the polling place.

For a list of potential documents to show each of these requirements, see sos.nh.gov/elections/register-vote.

You can prove your identity and age with a driver’s license, government-issued photo I.D., or passport/passport card. College I.D.’s cannot be used following a long legal tussle; they were removed from the list of acceptable documents this year by the GOP-controlled legislature.

For residency, a New Hampshire driver’s license is fine, as is vehicle registration or federal photo ID. Also accepted is government-issued paperwork such as a check, benefit statement or tax document, if your address is listed.

You can use non-government paperwork to prove where you live, such as a utility bill or lease agreement, but you must fill out a document saying that you don’t have the other documents. People who are homeless can vote after filling out a “Homeless Confirmation of Domicile” form. College students from out of state without a N.H. driver’s license who live in a dorm must provide a dorm assignment form issued by the school and sign a form stating they don’t have other proof of residency.

To prove citizenship, a U.S. birth certificate or passport/passport card are the usual methods, although naturalization papers or other proof of citizenship issued by the United States Department of State are also acceptable, as is “other reasonable documentation which indicates the applicant is a United States citizen,” according to the Secretary of State’s office.

If you have voted in the past in New Hampshire but have moved to another town or voting ward and need to register anew, the fact that you’re in the statewide registration database is considered acceptable evidence of U.S. citizenship; no need for a passport.

If you don’t have acceptable paperwork, you can still vote but must fill out a “qualified voter affidavit” saying that you don’t possess some or all of the documents necessary to prove your citizenship and that you live locally. Be honest: this is subject to voter-fraud penalties.

I’ve never voted; how does it work?

Lots of people will be available to help at the polling place who are used to dealing with confused people. If there’s no line, the whole process will take less than 10 minutes.

If you want to prepare yourself before going into the voting booth, take a look at a sample ballot — they’re all available at sos.nh.gov/elections/sample-ballots. Or read election stories in your local newspaper!

Vermont

Vermont’s rules are quite different from New Hampshire’s. The biggest difference is that every active registered voter in Vermont should already have a ballot in the mail.

How do I vote by mail?

Under a 2021 state law, the Secretary of State’s office mails a general election ballot to every active registered voter. Ballots went out about a week late this year because of printing problems, the Valley News reported, but they should have arrived by mid-October. If yours hasn’t, call your town clerk.

To return it, mark the ballot with a black pen and put it in the certificate envelope. Fill out the envelope, sign it and seal it. A ballot without a completed and signed envelope won’t be counted. Then put that envelope in the prepaid return envelope.

The Secretary of State’s office recommended mailing ballots back by Oct. 20, so at this point it’s safer to hand-deliver yours. You can drop it in your town’s official drop box, give it to your town clerk during office hours, or bring it to your polling place on Election Day. Ballots must be in by 7 p.m. on Nov. 3.

You can track your ballot and see whether there’s a problem with it through the Vermont Voter Portal at vote.vermont.gov.

Where do I vote?

If you’d rather vote in person, you can vote only at your town’s polling place. Find it at sos.vermont.gov/elections/voters/polling-places, on the Vermont Voter Portal, or by calling your town clerk. Polls open between 5 and 10 a.m., depending on the town, and close at 7 p.m. If you’re in line at 7, stay there. You still get to vote.

Bring your mailed ballot with you if you have it. If you don’t, you’ll have to sign a “No Ballot Cast” affidavit before you get a new one.

You can also vote early in person at your town clerk’s office before Election Day.

Am I registered to vote?

Check at vote.vermont.gov. It’s new since the last statewide election: in 2025, the Secretary of State’s office combined online voter registration and the old “My Voter Page” into one site, the Vermont Voter Portal. You can register, check your status, find your polling place, update your address and see a sample ballot there.

If you have trouble finding yourself, try adding your middle initial or a different version of your last name, or call your town clerk and ask how you’re listed.

How to register to vote

You can register any day up to and including Election Day, including at the polls on Nov. 3. You can also register online at vote.vermont.gov or in person at your town clerk’s office. Some people are registered automatically when they get a driver’s license.

To register, you must be a U.S. citizen, live in Vermont, and be at least 18 by Election Day. Seventeen-year-olds who will turn 18 by Nov. 3 can register too.

If you’ve never voted in Vermont, you also have to take the Voter’s Oath, a short pledge from the Vermont Constitution written on the registration form.

Most Vermont voters don’t need to show ID to vote. The exception is first-time voters who registered by mail or online. They’re asked to include a copy of a photo ID, a current utility bill, a bank statement or another government document, and they may have to show ID at the polls.

Vermonters who are homeless can register in the town where they’re staying and can use a shelter’s address.

What’s new this year?

Besides the new voter portal, lawmakers passed the “Voter Protections Act of 2026,” which took effect June 8. It makes it a crime to interfere with voters or election officials. It also bars the state and towns from voting rules that deny or limit anyone’s right to vote based on race, color, language or disability. Anyone who requests a copy of a town’s voter list must now swear they won’t use it unlawfully. You can read the summary of the new law.

I’ve never voted; how does it work?

Vermont voters can bring someone into the booth to help them, as long as it isn’t their employer or a union representative. You can also bring notes or a reminder sheet, and you can ask for up to three replacement ballots if you make a mistake. Campaign materials, including candidate stickers, aren’t allowed inside polling places, and neither are guns.

Who you vote for is your business, but it’s legal in both states to take “ballot selfies” if you choose to show the world how you voted.

If you run into problems voting, call the Secretary of State’s office at 1-800-439-VOTE (8683).