How to Support Your Favorite Duos

A new season of Dancing with the Stars means new contestants to vote for!

Season 34 of the competition show premieres on Sept. 16 and will feature a new cast of stars — including Jordan Chiles, Dylan Efron, Danielle Fishel, Robert Irwin and Elaine Hendrix, among others. As the show follows the stars and their professional dance partners over the weeks, it’s up to the fans at home to determine who stays and who gets eliminated.

While the Dancing with the Stars contestants will receive feedback and constructive criticism from the judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli and Derek Hough, they don’t have the power to send contestants home or choose the winner of the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy.

Each week, viewers can vote for several teams two different ways: online or via SMS texting. After the votes are counted each week, the show’s co-hosts Julianne Hough and Alfonso Ribeiro read the top contestants before winding their way down to the final few teams up for elimination and eventually announcing the eliminated team that week.

Here’s everything to know about how to vote during Dancing with the Stars, including when the process starts and the different ways to participate.

When can I vote during Dancing with the Stars?

As soon as season 34 of Dancing with the Stars premieres on Sept. 16 at 8 p.m. ET, viewers can begin voting for their favorite teams. Voting begins each weekly episode at 8 p.m. ET and closes shortly after the final competitive dance.

Viewers can vote for contestants even if they have not danced yet, but they must do so before the votes are tallied after the last dance.

How can I vote during Dancing with the Stars?

Eligible viewers, which include people 18 years or older and located in the United States or Canada, can vote online on the ABC website and/or via SMS text message during the live voting period. However, SMS voting is only available to viewers in the U.S. and its territories.

Online

The first way to vote for contestants is through the ABC website, https://dwtsvote.abc.com/. To vote through the link, viewers must create an account on the main page or log in to a pre-existing account.

Once their account has been verified, viewers can select their favorite couples and click “Save Votes” to lock in their picks.

Text

The second way to vote for Dancing with the Stars contestants is through SMS text. To vote this way, fans can text a specific keyword (which is typically the star’s first name but will be officially announced under each contestant’s name during the show) to 21523. Contestants also typically encourage viewers to vote for them via their social media pages with the keyword that stays the same week after week.

After sending a first message, fans will receive a text confirming their vote for the specific couple and will also receive a note if they exceed the amount of times they can vote for a team. Unlike the online method, once a viewer submits someone’s name via SMS, they cannot cancel or change their vote.

SMS voting is only available to viewers located in the U.S. and its territories and is subject to message and data rates.

How many times can I vote for contestants on Dancing with the Stars?

Each week, viewers can vote for as many contestants as they would like. However, fans can only submit up to 10 votes for each contestant per voting method.

Fans can vote for their favorite contestants 10 times online and 10 times via SMS text, for a total of 20 votes per couple.

Where can I watch Dancing with the Stars?

Season 34 of Dancing with the Stars is available to watch and stream beginning Sept. 16, every Tuesday, at 8 p.m. ET. Episodes will be available to watch live both on ABC and Disney+.

Afterward, the episodes will stream on Disney+, Hulu and ABC on demand.