2024 TEXAS VOTER GUIDE
1.Voter Registration
Deadline to Register/Update: October 7, 2024
2. Check Your Registration
Why check your registration? Your address is where election officials send notices, application forms to receive your ballot in the mail, and more. Additionally, poll workers will check if the address on your voter registration matches the address on your ID at the polls.
Check Your Registration Online
Update Your Registration Online
Checklist:
- Is your name spelled correctly? (Correct hyphenations, middle initials, etc)
- Correct Address
- Active Voter Status (if not update by sending in another online/mail voter application)
- Correct Date of Birth
- Correct Political Party Preference
- Take a time-stamped photograph or screenshot of your registration, and take it with you to the polls as proof of your registration.
3. Voter ID Law
Source: Ballotpedia
Texas requires voters to present photo identification while voting.
The following list of accepted ID was current as of February 2023. Click here for the Texas Secretary of State’s page on accepted ID to ensure you have the most current information.
- Texas driver’s license issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS)
- Texas Election Identification Certificate issued by DPS
- Texas Personal Identification Card issued by DPS
- Texas handgun license issued by DPS
- United States Military Identification Card containing the person’s photograph
- United States Citizenship Certificate containing the person’s photograph
- United States passport (book or card)
Identification provided by voters aged 18-69 may be expired for no more than four years before the election date. Voters aged 70 and older can use an expired ID card regardless of how long ago the ID expired.
Voters who are unable to provide one of the ID options listed above can sign a Reasonable Impediment Declaration and provide one of the following supporting documents:
- Copy or original of a government document that shows the voter’s name and an address, including the voter’s voter registration certificate
- Copy of or original current utility bill
- Copy of or original bank statement
- Copy of or original government check
- Copy of or original paycheck
- Copy of or original of (a) a certified domestic (from a U.S. state or territory) birth certificate or (b) a document confirming birth admissible in a court of law which establishes the voter’s identity (which may include a foreign birth document)
The following voters are exempt from showing photo ID:
- Voters with a disability
- Voters with a disability “may apply with the county voter registrar for a permanent exemption to presenting an acceptable photo identification or following the Reasonable Impediment Declaration procedure in the county.”
- Voters who have a religious objection to being photographed
Voters who do not have a photo ID can obtain a Texas Election Identification Certificate (EIC) at any Texas driver’s license office during regular business hours. Voters can also obtain an Election Identification Certificate from a mobile station. Locations are listed here.
4. Order Your Absentee Mail Ballot
Deadline to apply for Absentee Mail Ballot: Must be received by October 25, 2024
We recommend requesting your absentee mail ballot as soon as possible and well in advance of this deadline in order to ensure that you receive your ballot in time.
Request Absentee Mail Ballot Online
Track Absentee Mail Ballot Online
Voters may drop off absentee mail ballot in person at their local county clerk’s office with a valid form of ID. Find your county clerk’s office here: https://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/voter/cclerks.shtml
Deadline to return Mail Ballot: Must be received by 7:00 PM on November 5, 2024
5. Early Voting Information
Early in-person voting is available from October 21 – November 1, 2024.
- Any registered voter may vote early by personal appearance (in person). You may vote at any early voting location in your county of registration.
- You will be able to find early voting locations by searching our search site https://teamrv-mvp.sos.texas.gov/MVP/mvp.do which will be populated with voting sites a few days before early voting begins.
- You may also contact the Early Voting Clerk for State and County Elections in your county. A list is available here: https://www.sos.texas.gov/elections/voter/county.shtml
- Also, many newspapers publish early voting and election day polling locations, so you might be able to find the information there.
- For information on early voting locations, hours acceptable forms of ID and other questions visit: https://www.votetexas.gov/faq/early-voting.html
Curbside Voting for Texans with Disabilities
- If a voter is physically unable to enter the polling place, he or she may ask that an election officer bring a ballot to the entrance of the polling place or to a car parked at the curbside. After the voter marks the ballot, they will give it to the election officer, who will put it in the ballot box. Or, at the voter’s request, a companion may hand the voter a ballot and deposit it for him or her.
- The law requires that each polling place must designate a parking space for curbside voting. The space must be clearly marked with a sign that indicates that the space is reserved for curbside voting. The sign should display a telephone number that a voter may call or text to request assistance from an election officer. Some polling locations may provide a button or an intercom that a voter can use to request assistance.
- Generally speaking, you may vote curbside during the early voting period or on Election Day.
For more information regarding federal, state and local elections contact your state election official online: site or contact Texas Secretary of State, Ruth R. Hughs by e-mail: elections@sos.texas.gov or call toll free 252.VOTE(8683).
6. Become a Poll Worker!
Poll workers must be 18 years old or over, and a registered voter (if over 18) in their county.
To sign up, visit: https://pollworkertraining.sos.texas.gov/