The voter registration deadline in Pennsylvania is fast approaching. Here’s what you need to know to vote on Nov. 5.

The deadline for Pennsylvanians to register to vote in the November election is fast approaching.

The commonwealth is likely to play a pivotal role deciding who controls the White House and the Senate on Nov. 5. But voters in the state have less than a week to register to vote if they want to cast a ballot in the historic election. The deadline to register to vote in the general election in Pennsylvania is Oct. 21.

Here’s what you need to know about the general election and how to register to vote:

Polls will open for the general election at 7 a.m. on Nov. 5 and close at 8 p.m. that same day. Pennsylvania voters can already request and cast a ballot by mail.

Voters must be at least 18 on the day of the election, and a U.S. citizen and a resident of Pennsylvania at least 30 days prior.

You can register to vote online on the Pennsylvania voter services website. You can also register at your county voter registration office, or print out an application and deliver it or mail it to the office. If you’re mailing your registration, it must be received by the deadline.

Pennsylvania residents are now also automatically registered to vote when get their driver’s license, unless they opt out of doing so.

Pennsylvanians who are on active duty in the military, or are hospitalized or bedridden veterans, are able to register at any time. More information is available at www.fvap.gov.

If you’ve already registered to vote in Pennsylvania, you only need to update your registration if you have changed your name or political party, or if you moved. If you moved from another state, you need to re-register.

The deadline to update your registration for the general election is the same as the Oct. 21 registration deadline.

You can check your voter registration status online on the Pennsylvania voter services website.

Polls will be open on primary day from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. If it’s your first time voting at a polling location, you will be required to bring an approved form of identification. Polling locations can be found on the state department website.

All Pennsylvania voters can apply to vote by mail, and you do not need an excuse to do so. That said, you must request a mail ballot for the primary and get it to your local county board of elections by 5 p.m. on Oct. 29.

Voters can mail their ballots back, bring it directly to their local election office, or leave it in a drop box if their county uses them. In some counties, including Philadelphia, voters can request and fill out their mail ballots in one trip to an election office.

A list of election offices and drop boxes in the city can be found here.

The application for mail ballots can be accessed here and you can find your local board of elections here.

Mail ballots for the primary must be returned by 8 p.m. on Nov. 5.

In Pennsylvania, if you’ve completed the terms of your incarceration for a felony conviction and have been released from a correctional facility or halfway house by the election, you can vote.

Pretrial detainees and people on probation or released on parole (including parolees living in a halfway house) can also vote. People under house arrest, regardless of their conviction status or conditions of their confinement, are also eligible to vote.

People who are in prison, a halfway house, or other alternative correctional facility on pre-release status for a felony conviction during the election are not eligible to vote.

Those who have been convicted of violating the Pennsylvania Election Code within the last four years also cannot vote.