Election Dates, Deadlines, and Guides: User Guide

Everything you need to use the Democracy Works Dates, Deadlines, & Guides resource!

This guide serves as a basic reference for your use of the Democracy Works Election Dates, Deadlines, & Guides resource. It includes a detailed headers key with descriptions for each column of data. To find more information about voting in each state, please visit turbovote.org.

The election data collected by Democracy Works goes through extensive quality assurance checks by our team of election experts. This resource is frequently updated with that data as more election information becomes available and as details change.

While Democracy Works partners and affiliated organizations are permitted to share this resource, you may not copy the data from our resource or use the data to build a new resource or tool. If you are interested in leveraging Democracy Works data, please contact us to learn more.

Headers key

Note: A blank cell = N/A (e.g., if an early vote start and end date is blank for an election, then early voting is likely not available for that election)

State

  • The state in which the election is taking place. This does not mean that the election applies to the entire state. The majority of elections occurring in 2023 are at the local or municipal level.

Election date

  • The date of the election is listed in MM/DD/YYYY format.

Election type

  • The jurisdiction level in which the election is taking place. Only the highest level of jurisdiction will be represented by this field, even if there are additional contests and measures at lower levels. For example, if there is a countywide contest on the ballot or if every voter in a county can participate, the Election type will be county, even if some municipalities also have elections.

Election name

  • The clear and descriptive name of the election.

TurboVote election guide

  • TurboVote election guides contain dynamically-updated key actions, deadlines, and FAQs to help voters make a plan and vote. TurboVote will publish an election guide for each of the over 3,000 elections scheduled in 2023.

Early voting start date

  • The first day any registered voter can cast a ballot in the election. Locations and rules for early voting vary by state and election, details can be found in the "Early voting website" URL.

Early voting end date

  • The last day any registered voter can cast a ballot before election day. Locations and rules for early voting vary by state and election, details can be found in the "Early voting website" URL.

Early voting website

  • A link to additional information about voting early for the election or in the state. Please review the website thoroughly before sharing this information with your audience, as rules and regulations vary by state and election.

Deadline to register to vote online to vote

  • The last day to register to vote in the election via a state’s online voter registration (OVR) tool. This deadline can differ from by-mail or in-person deadlines. If this field is blank, then the state does not have OVR, or does not have an OVR deadline.

Deadline to register by mail to vote

  • The last day to register to vote in the election via sending a paper voter registration form by mail. This deadline can differ from online or in-person deadlines. If this field is blank, then the state does not have a paper voter registration deadline.

Deadline to register in-person to vote

  • The last day to register to vote in the election in-person at a location other than an Election Day voting location*. This deadline can differ from online or by-mail deadlines. If this field is blank, then the deadline to register in-person is the same as the deadline to register by-mail, or the state does not have a voter registration deadline. If this field is equal to Election date, voter registration is available on Election Day at a designated location that is not a voting location*.

Deadline to request a ballot to vote by mail

  • The last day to request an absentee ballot for the election from your local election official. Note that we do not collect a deadline to return an absentee ballot; we advise voters to return their absentee ballots as soon as possible and contact their local election official for more information.

Election Day registration available at voting location

  • Availability of same-day registration on Election Day at all voting locations

  • “Yes” = registration is an option at all voting locations

  • [Blank] = this is not an option

State website

  • A link to additional information about the corresponding election or voting in the state.

*Voting location refers to any place a voter can cast a ballot in person on Election Day, including but not limited to polling places and vote centers.

Additional help for voters

TurboVote offers a fully-staffed help desk to answer any questions voters may have. You can reach the help desk by emailing help@turbovote.org or by responding to any SMS or email notification you receive from TurboVote. 

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Learn more about elections data and voting guidance from Democracy Works.