If you have not mailed in your absentee ballot yet, you might want to consider an alternative to the U.S. Postal Service.
“It’s a little too late” to mail a ballot in with the hopes of it making it to election officials by Election Day, Grace Chimene with the League of Women Voters of Texas said.
“Vote-by-mail ballots have to arrive at the county election office by 7 o’clock on Election Day,” she said. “And I think that’s cutting it a little too close.”
Another option: Hand deliver your ballot.
Chimene said voters should carefully read instructions, then fill out the ballot and put it in the right envelope and sign the security envelope. In short, do everything they're supposed to do if they were mailing the ballot, except putting it in a mail box.
“They need to hand deliver it to their county election office,” she said.
Each county in Texas is allowed only one site where voters can drop off ballots. Voters can only deliver their own ballot and need to show photo ID. Hours vary by county.
In Travis County, voters can deliver ballots to 5501 Airport Blvd. Here are the hours:
- Oct. 13 to Nov. 1: 7 a.m. – 7 p.m., Monday through Saturday; 12 p.m. – 6 p.m. Sunday.
- Nov. 2: 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
- Nov. 3: 7 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Another option: Vote in person.
Voters can also surrender their mail-in ballots at a polling place and just vote in person, Chimene said.
“I would advise people to really make sure that their vote is counted,” she said.
In-person early voting ends Friday. Election Day is Nov. 3.
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