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Cake day: June 15th, 2023

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  • Actually, you technically don’t. The only citizenship requirement that the Federal Government puts on voting is that you affirm, under penalty of perjury, that you are a citizen, which moves the burden of proof. If a government official thinks someone registered themselves illegally, it’s up to the government to prove it.

    Some states will impose their own documentation requirements, with varying levels of force. Some states have their own forms that require proof, but still accept the Federal form which only asks for the affirmation. Others will accept the Federal form, but will only register those people for Federal elections. (A small handful of states do not take the Federal form at all, and I am not yet sure why.)

    All states will require some proof of address (like a drivers license), only because they will need to know which district to put you in. Yet there was a court case in the 80s that homeless people without a permanent address (and presumably without their documentation) were still entitled to be able to vote if they hold citizenship.

    North Dakota has no statewide voter registration at all, but that turns out to be a bad thing too, because it required proving eligibility every time someone votes.

    More good info at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_registration_in_the_United_States