College is an exciting time to learn and experience new things! One of those new experiences may be voting for the first time. If you are a United States citizen, at least 18 years old, and a North Dakota resident, you can vote in North Dakota elections. Here's what you need to know about voter ID, voting address options, and how to vote. We also have a printable college student voting handout.
Valid Form of ID and Voting Address
To vote in North Dakota, you must provide one of the following valid forms of ID:
- North Dakota driver's license
- North Dakota non-driver ID
- Tribal ID or Tribal letter
- Long term care certificate
Voting With Your Home Residence Address
If your valid form of ID has the address you lived at before attending college, you can vote with that address.
Voting With Your College Residence Address
If you want to vote with the address you are living at while attending college, you can do one of the following:
- Update your ID to reflect your college address
- Provide your North Dakota ID, student ID, and documentation from the college or university
- Provide your North Dakota ID and supplemental documentation
You can update the address on your North Dakota driver's license or North Dakota non-driver ID using the NDDOT's online address update system or by making an appointment at a NDDOT driver's license site. Please note that if you use the online address update system you will not receive a new physical ID, but your new address will be reflected in the online system and the North Dakota Central Voter file. If you vote at a polling location, you will need to show the ID that has your old address and confirm to the poll worker that the address on file in the online system is your current address.
You can vote using your college address without changing the address on your ID by providing the following:
You must provide all of the following when voting:
- Your valid non-updated North Dakota identification
- Your student ID
- A printed document issued by your college or university. It must include:
- Institution's letterhead and seal
- Student's legal name
- Student's current residential address in North Dakota
- Date that the student started living at the residential address
- Student's date of birth
For North Dakota University System students, you can find the required document on the NDUS Campus Connection Student homepage.
If your valid form of North Dakota identification does not include your current North Dakota address, you can provide the following.
Must provide both of these:
- Your valid non-updated North Dakota identification
- One of the following documents with your current address
- Bank statement
- Utility bill
- Paycheck or paystub
- Check or document issued by a federal, state, Tribal, or local government
Out of State Student
If you are a student from another state attending college in North Dakota, you must choose to either vote absentee in your home state, or you can update your identification to a North Dakota ID.
Important: Updating to a North Dakota driver’s license or non-driver ID will replace any identification you have from another state. This may affect some forms of financial aid that are tied to residency in other states that you may have claimed residency in previously.
Ways to Vote
You can choose how you want to vote - absentee, in-person early voting if offered by the county, or in-person on Election Day.
In-Person
You can find your polling location(s) using the My Voting Info portal.
Keep in mind that your polling location is based on the address you are voting with (home or college).
To learn more about voting at a polling location, visit the Where Do I Vote page.
Absentee/By Mail
To vote absentee, you need to request a ballot from the county auditor. It must be the county associated with the address you are voting with.
Visit the absentee voting page to find out how you can request and return a ballot. The county auditor must receive absentee ballots by the close of polls on Election Day.