Voter Registration

Questions often arise regarding general issues about the voting process. Voter registration, absentee voting, City of East Lansing precincts, and voting locations are often misunderstood. The information and links below, in addition to the YouVote FAQs page, will help answer questions and concerns on those topics. 

To register to vote, there are two main requirements:

  1. You must be at least 18 years old on the date of the election.
  2. You must be a U.S. citizen.

Furthermore, if you are voting in Michigan, you must meet an additional two requirements:

  1. You must be a resident of Michigan.
  2. You must be a resident in the city or township where you are applying to register to vote.

There are very specific rules in Michigan about registering in person or by mail. These are very important to understand since first time voters who register by mail must vote in person.* If you register in person you can vote by absentee ballot the first time you vote.


Register in person: You can register to vote anywhere in the state of Michigan at any Secretary of State office. The closest office to the MSU campus is at 400 Albert Avenue in East Lansing (google map).


Register by mail: You can access a voter registration application form (pdf), and mail it in to the clerk in the county, city, or township in which you wish to register. This is considered a registration by mail, which means you must vote in person the first time you vote. Applications filled out and submitted to a third party (e.g. voter registration tables) are also considered registrations by mail.

As an MSU student, you are eligible to register as a resident of the City of East Lansing. You can register in East Lansing at the City Clerk's office, 410 Abbott Rd, East Lansing (google map).

Michigan law requires that your drivers license address match the address on your voter registration card. If you register in a location that is different than the one on your drivers license, your drivers license record will be changed to reflect your voter registration form. You will be sent a sticker to put on your drivers license with this new address. The same is true if you change your drivers license address—your voter registration address will change as well.
*the only exceptions to this rule are:

  • 1. You personally hand deliver the mail-in registration form to your county, city, or township clerk's office.
  • 2. You are 60 years of age or older.
  • 3. You are disabled.
  • 4. You are eligible to vote under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Voting Act.
    *One way you can satisfy this requirement, however is to request an absentee ballot in person.
For more information, see our section on Absentee Ballots.