One Month Left to Register for Voting in Texas

Everything you need to know to register to vote and what the application process looks like.

By André Averion, Communications Manager

Published August 23rd, 2024.

Registration to vote in person or by mail in Texas ends Oct. 7, giving residents the power to shape policies that directly impact their community if they make the necessary steps before the deadline. Here’s everything you need to know to vote. 

If you are a legal U.S. citizen 18 years or older, you can register to vote in your county of residence, so long as you are not currently a convicted felon or have not been declared by court to be mentally incapacitated. While Texas residents cannot register to vote online, they can sign up for a mail application online, fill out the National Mail Voter Registration Form or visit their county’s Voter Registrar office. Certain public libraries, government offices, high schools, and public universities also provide registration applications.

The application will include personal information such as legal U.S. name, date of birth, phone number, residence address, mailing address, and either your Texas driver’s license number or the last four digits of your social security number. It will also question confirming your eligibility to vote. Once completed, the application must be mailed or submitted at your county’s Voter Registrar office. 

If you are unsure if you are already registered, you can check your registration status online. If you have recently moved or changed names, you’ll have to make an update to your registration online. 

Early voting will begin Oct. 7 through Nov. 1, where registered voters can vote at any early voting location in their county of residence, which will be announced by the Early Voting Clerk or county election offices. Some newspapers, magazines, news stations, and voting websites will also provide location. 

Before Oct. 25, U.S. citizens can apply for a ballot by mail instead of showing up for early voting or election day in person. Eligibility for mail ballot in Texas includes any U.S. citizen that is 65 years or older, clinically sick or disabled, traveling out of county, expecting to be giving birth within three weeks before or after Election Day, or is confined in jail but not serving as a convicted felon. 

The application will include voter information similar to registration, mailing information, reason for voting by mail, ballot type and a signature. Applications can either be printed or an online order for an application can be completed, which upon receiving and completing, must be enveloped mailed to the Early Voting clerk in the county of residence and received before the Oct. 25 deadline. If the Early Voting clerk does not receive your application before the deadline, even if it is already being shipped or processed in mailing, it will not be counted. 

When arriving to an early voting location or the Nov. 5 Election Day, voters must provide one of seven forms of photo identification, which includes your Texas Driver License, a Texas Election Identification Certificate, a Texas Personal Identification Card, a Texas Handgun License, a United States Military Identification Card containing the person’s photograph, a United States Citizenship Certificate containing the person’s photograph, or a United States Passport. The first four can be obtained by the Texas Department of Public Safety. 

During early voting or Election Day, voters will enter a private booth to fill out a paper ballot or touch screen, which will be electronically scanned and conclude your needed participation. 

While the presidential election is a focus for many, this year’s ballot voters will also vote for a Texas U.S. Senator, 38 Texas U.S. House Representatives, a Railroad Commissioner, 15 State Senators, 7 State Board of Education members, 3 members of the Texas Supreme Court, and 3 members of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Collin, Dallas and Tarrant county will also include various municipal elections and several Texas State House Representative seats will be at play.

This will also include the much anticipated battleground for District 112 located in Dallas, one of the largest Asian American districts in Texas, between incumbent Rep. Angie Chen Button and Averie Bishop. If Bishop wins, she will become the first Filipino American to serve in the state Legislature.

More details and resources can be found on our website here.