How to Vote in Texas’ Elections

En español

On Saturday, May 3, the mayors and city councils of Fort Worth and San Antonio, among other municipal offices, are up for election in Texas. Below are some key dates for the upcoming races. For more information, visit the election web pages of Tarrant County (for Fort Worth’s races) and Bexar County (for San Antonio’s races).

• Thursday, April 3: Deadline to register to vote

• Tuesday, April 22 through Tuesday, April 29: Early voting is available
• Saturday, May 3: Election Day. Polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

• Tuesday, April 22: Deadline for early voting clerk to receive applications for a ballot by mail
• Saturday, May 3: Ballot by mail without a postmark must be received by your county’s early voting clerk by 7 p.m.
• Monday, May 5: Postmarked ballot by mail must be received by your county’s early voting clerk by 5 p.m.

Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP/Getty Images

The deadline to register to vote or change your voter registration is at least 30 days before the upcoming election date.

On the registration application, you must provide your Texas driver’s license number, Texas personal ID card number or the last four digits of your Social Security number. Or check the box stating you don’t have one of these forms of ID.

You can register:

• By mail: Complete a voter registration application online. Then print, sign and mail it to your county registrar's office. To request an application be mailed to you, contact your county voter registrar. 

• In person: Request an application form at your county registrar's office, public libraries and certain government offices. 

Texas doesn’t permit registration on Election Day.

Check your registration status via the state’s online voter portal.

A ballot by mail is available to voters who meet certain qualifications, including those who are 65 or older, are sick or have a disability, or will be out of their home county on Election Day and during the early voting period. Applications must be received — not postmarked — by the application deadline, which is the 11th day before Election Day, unless that day falls on a weekend or holiday, in which case the deadline moves to the first preceding business day.

Apply for a ballot:

• By mail: Download an application, fill it in electronically or print and fill it in by hand. Or request an application be mailed to you from the secretary of state’s office or your county’s early voting clerk. Once complete, hand-deliver or mail your application to your county’s early voting clerk. Forms require first-class postage when mailed.

• In person: Request an application from your county’s early voting clerk.

• By email or fax: Download an application, and email the completed form to your county’s early voting clerk, or fax it, if the clerk’s office has a fax machine. You must also mail the original application to the clerk. If applying on or near the deadline, the mailed copy must be received by the clerk no later than the fourth business day after the email or fax version was received.

Your application must include your Texas driver’s license number, Texas personal ID number or election ID certificate number (which is different from your Voter Unique Identifier number). If you haven’t been issued one of these numbers, you can submit the last four digits of your Social Security number.

If you haven’t been issued any of the required personal identification numbers, you can check the box stating so, but your voter’s registration record must not contain any of these numbers.

A return envelope will be provided with your ballot. Before sealing your ballot in this envelope, you must include your Texas driver’s license number, Texas personal ID number or election ID certificate number in the space provided. If you haven’t been issued one of these numbers, you can submit the last four digits of your Social Security number, or a statement that you haven’t been issued one of the requested forms of ID.

Return your voted ballot:

• By mail: Mail your ballot to your early voting clerk’s office. To be counted, the clerk must receive your ballot by the close of polls on Election Day if your ballot is not postmarked. If your ballot is postmarked by 7 p.m. on Election Day, it must arrive no later than 5 p.m. on the day after Election Day, unless that day is a Saturday, Sunday or legal state or national holiday, in which the deadline is extended to the next regular business day.

• In person: Deliver your ballot to your early voting clerk’s office on Election Day by 7 p.m.

Check the status of your mail-in ballot via the state’s online Ballot by Mail Tracker.

Any eligible registered voter can cast a ballot at an early voting site in their county.

In-person early voting generally begins the 17th day before Election Day — unless that day is on a weekend, in which case early voting starts on Monday — and ends the 4th day before Election Day. However, for some special elections and for elections held in May, it starts the 12th day before Election Day and ends on the 4th day before Election Day.

Hours vary by location. For location details, check with your county elections office or the state’s online voter portal.

Poll hours are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time. If your county participates in the Countywide Polling Place Program, you can vote at any location in your county. If your county doesn’t participate, you can only vote at the voting precinct assigned to you.

Find your voting precinct location using the state’s My Voter Portal, which will be populated with voting sites closer to Election Day, or contact your county elections office. Your voting precinct number (Pct. No.) is located next to your birth year on your voter registration certificate.

Before voting, you must present one of Texas’ seven acceptable forms of photo ID, which include a Texas driver’s license, an election identification certificate and a U.S. passport.

If you don’t have a photo ID and can’t reasonably obtain one, you can fill out a Reasonable Impediment Declaration at your polling place. You must also present an acceptable form of supporting ID, such as a current utility bill or bank statement.

If you have an acceptable photo ID but didn’t bring it to your polling place, you can still vote a provisional ballot. For your vote to count, you must present an acceptable ID to your county registrar within six days or process an exemption if it was lost in a natural disaster.

Voters who are sick or have a disability may request a ballot by mail.

All polling places in the state must be accessible for voters. Voters who can't read English may use interpreters at the polls. If a voter is physically unable to enter a polling place, curbside voting is available. If planning to vote curbside, you’re encouraged to call your polling place ahead of arrival.

If you need assistance to cast your ballot, you may ask a person of your choosing (aside from your employer, an agent of your employer, or an officer or agent of your union) or two election workers. The person assisting must recite an oath stating they’ll mark the ballot as directed and won’t try to influence the voter. For more information, visit votetexas.gov.

Editor’s note: This guide was originally published Sep. 8, 2023. It has been updated with new information.

Grace Dickinson is a writer for aarp.org who covers federal and state policy. She previously wrote for The Philadelphia Inquirer. Her work has also appeared on sites including HuffPost and Eater.

Emily Paulin is a reporter for AARP covering nursing homes, health care, and federal and state policy. Her work has also appeared in Broadsheet, an Australian lifestyle publication.

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