Vote in the Texas Primary Runoff Election

The Texas Primary Runoff elections will be held this month. Early voting starts May 16 and runs until May 20. Election Day voting takes place May 24.

Dozens of primary races are going to a runoff election, including U.S House seats, Texas Senate and House seats, attorney general, lieutenant governor and more. The runoffs select the Democratic and Republican slates of candidates who will appear on the General Election ballots in November.

Registered voters are eligible to vote in the runoff elections regardless of whether they voted in the March 1 Primary. However, if you voted in the Republican primary, you may only vote in the Republican primary runoff. Likewise, if you voted in the Democratic primary, you may only vote in the Democratic primary runoff. Voters who sat out the March 1 primaries may vote in either one of the parties’ runoffs. Other parties, such as the Libertarian Party and the Green Party, do not choose their candidates in primaries, and there are no runoffs for those candidates.

Texas has changed its voting laws in 2021. Be prepared to know what’s new.

To determine if you're registered to vote, check your registration status on VoteTexas.gov or by contacting your county voter registrar's office.

Some Texans can vote early by mail. You can vote by mail if you: will be away from your county on Election Day and during the hours that early voting is conducted; are sick or disabled; are 65 years of age or older on Election Day; are expected to give birth within three weeks before or after Election Day; or you are in jail.

If you qualify to do so and you're planning to cast a mail-in-ballot, you must apply for the ballot, and you'll need to provide a state driver’s license, personal ID or election ID certificate number, or the last four digits of a Social Security number, on both the application and the return envelope for their completed ballot.

Friday, May 13, is the last day to return ballot-by-mail applications. Mail-in ballots are due back to elections offices and must be postmarked by 7 p.m. May 24. If you’ve changed your mind and intend to vote in person, bring your mail-in ballot materials to a voting location on Election Day, May 24.

Take the time now to visit this election voting guide and bookmark it for later, or visit it anytime at aarp.org/txvotes. A Spanish-language page is available at aarp.org/txvota. You can also get the election voting guide by texting "TXVOTES" to 22777.