Today is the deadline to register to vote in Texas in the Nov. 5 election. Citizens across the country will get to vote for president, and Texans will get to vote in a U.S. Senate race.
At the local level, Austinites will vote for mayor, and some residents will choose City Council members. Depending on what county you live in county, you will also get to weigh in on local tax changes and school bonds. Find sample ballots on your county’s election website. Here are some examples:
You can check to see if your registered here. If you're not, here's what you need to know.
What do I need to do to vote?
You must register by Monday to vote in the Nov. 5 election.
To be eligible to register, you must:
- be a U.S. citizen
- be a resident of the county you are applying to vote in
- be at least 18 years old by Election Day
- not have been declared mentally incapacitated by a court
- not be a convicted felon (though you may be eligible if you were pardoned or completed your sentence, probation and parole)
In Texas, you cannot register to vote online — unless you are renewing, replacing or updating your Texas driver's license or ID on the Department of Public Safety website.
If you submit a voter registration application by mail, it must be postmarked by Monday to vote in the fall election. That won’t necessarily happen if you drop it off in a mailbox Monday.
Bruce Elfant, Travis County's voter registrar, said at this point it may be better to visit your county voter registrar or elections office to submit your application in person.
"With the deadline so close, we strongly recommend against mailing voter registration applications because they may not get a timely postmark," he said. "And every cycle we have upwards of a couple thousand people who probably mailed them on time but didn't get that postmark. And that is what we have to go by.”
You can find some local offices here:
You can also fill out a voter registration application with local groups, like the League of Women Voters. Volunteer deputy registrars have applications and will hand them in to the registrar’s office for you. Contact your local League for registration events.
Travis County is hosting a voter registration drive across the county Monday with at least four locations open until midnight. Elfant recommended anyone who hasn't registered by then to come and fill out an application at any of the more than two dozen sites that will be open.
"This is something that we have done for years," he said. "In 2018, that was our record year. We registered 40,000 people that day. So these deadline events have been very successful."
Do I need to renew my voter registration?
If you have changed your name or moved within Texas — especially if you have moved to a different county — you should update your voter registration information online. You can also submit an updated physical application before the deadline.
What kind of ID will I need to register or vote?
To register to vote, you can use your Texas driver's license or Texas personal ID number issued by DPS. If you don’t have either of those, you can use the last four digits of your Social Security number.
When you head to the polls, you will need to present one of these valid forms of photo ID:
- Texas driver's license (DPS issued)
- Texas election identification Certificate (DPS issued)
- Texas personal ID card (DPS issued)
- Texas handgun license (DPS issued)
- U.S. military photo ID
- U.S. citizenship certificate
- U.S. passport (book or card)
You can still use your ID to vote if it expired within the last four years. If you are 70 or older, you can use it regardless of when it expired.
If you couldn’t reasonably obtain one of the above forms of ID, you can use a supporting form of identification like a bank statement or utility bill. But you must sign a document saying you had a reasonable impediment to getting a valid photo ID — like lack of transportation, work schedule, illness or family responsibilities.
Important dates for the Nov. 5 election:
- Oct. 7 — Deadline to register to vote or update your address
- Oct. 21 — Early voting begins
- Oct. 25 — Deadline to apply for a ballot by mail
- Nov. 1 — Early voting ends
- Nov. 5 — Election Day
