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If you’ve never voted before or recently moved from out-of-state, you’ll need to register to vote before you can cast a ballot in Texas elections. Here’s how.
Ways to Register
- In-person. Visit your county’s Voter Registrar office.
- By mail. Pick up a voter registration application from your county voter registrar office, public libraries, government offices, or high schools.
- Online. Although you can’t submit a voter registration application online, but you can fill out the form through an online portal, print it, sign, it and mail it to your county’s Voter Registrar office. You’ll need to put your physical signature on the form.
After you submit your voter registration application, a voter registration certificate (your proof of registration) will be mailed to you within 30 days. Note that in some counties the voter registrar is the County Tax Assessor-Collector, while in other counties it is a designated Elections Administrator.
Therefore your certificate may be mailed to you by the county tax office. This has nothing to do with taxes; it’s just a separate duty fulfilled by that local official.
Your certificate will look something like this:
Note that you do not need to bring the registration certificate with you when you vote, so it’s okay if you lose it. However, it contains helpful information, including your precinct number.
Your residence is located in a specific “precinct,” or area within the county where you will vote on Election Day. In some counties, you must go to that precinct specifically to vote, while other counties allow you to vote at any polling station in the county.
Eligibility
To be eligible to register in Texas, you must:
- be a U.S. citizen;
- be a resident of the county in which you plan to vote;
- be 18 years old (you may register at 17 years and 10 months);
- not be a convicted felon (unless your sentence is completed, including any probation or parole); and
- not be declared mentally incapacitated by a court of law
Deadline
Texas law requires eligible voters to register by the 30th day before Election Day.
That means, for example, that the voter registration deadline for the Nov 8, 2022 Election was Oct 11, 2022.
If you miss the deadline, you could still go ahead and register because there will soon be another election, whether a runoff election, primary election, constitutional amendment election, or a special election to fill a vacancy of an official who resigns.
Check Your Registration Status
To confirm your voter registration status, you can visit the Texas Secretary of State’s Am I Registered?’ portal, which allows you to look up your voter registration record in the statewide voter registration database.
Voter registration in Texas is county-based, so we encourage you to contact your county voter registrar for specific questions regarding the status of your voter registration.
Change Your Address
Texans who have recently changed their name or moved can update their voter registration online.
ID Required
When it comes time to vote, you should bring one of the following forms of photo ID with you to your polling place.
- Texas Driver License
- Texas Election Identification Certificate
- Texas Personal Identification card
- Texas Handgun License
- U.S. Military identification card with the person’s photo
- U.S. Citizenship Certificate with the person’s photo
- U.S. Passport (book or card)
You don’t need to bring the voter registration certificate.
FAQ
Not a problem. Your name on your ID does not need to exactly match your name as it appears on your voter registration. As long as the two versions of your name are substantially similar, you will be allowed to vote with a regular ballot.
Your address as printed on your photo ID does not need to match your address as it appears on your voter registration. Even if these addresses are completely different, you will be allowed to vote with a regular ballot.
For voters 18-69, your photo ID must be current or have expired no more than 4 years before you vote. For voters 70 and older, your photo ID may be expired for any length of time.
