A voter registration drive is an effort, often undertaken by a political campaign, political party, or other outside groups (partisan and non-partisan), that seeks to register to vote those who are eligible but not registered. Sometimes these drives are undertaken for partisan purposes, and target specific demographic groups that are likely to vote for one candidate or other; on the other hand, such drives are sometimes undertaken by non-partisan groups and targeted more generally.

On October 4, 2004, a voter registration drive in Austin, Texas led by the Travis County Democratic Party registered over 12,000 people to vote in less than 24 hours.

Voter registration is the requirement in some democracies for citizens and residents to check in with some central registry specifically for the purpose of being allowed to vote in elections. An effort to get people to register is known as a voter registration drive.

In democracies where resident registration is in effect, voter registration is generally not required.

In some countries, including most developed countries, registration is the responsibility of the government, either local or national; and in over 30 countries^{[citation needed]} some form of compulsory voting is required as part of each citizen's civic duty. Even in many countries where the voting itself is not compulsory, registering one's place of residence with some government agency is required, which automatically constitutes voter registration for citizens, and in some cases residents, of the required age. In other countries, however, people eligible to vote must "opt in" to be permitted to participate in voting, generally by filling out a specific form registering them to vote. Governments registering people has been shown to be one of the most powerful predictors of high voting turnout levels.^{[citation needed]}