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There is no national way to vote. The Constitution leaves the "times, places and manner" of elections to the states, so the mechanics — what ID you show, whether you can vote by mail, how many days of early voting you get, how you register, and when your name can be removed from the rolls — vary sharply across the 50 states and DC, and shift cycle to cycle. Since the Supreme Court ended federal preclearance in Shelby County v. Holder (2013), that variation has widened. Here are the five levers that move the most.
NCSL groups all 50 states + DC into four tiers (2025). 36 states ask for some ID; the friction comes from what kind and what happens if you don't have it.