Voting in Texas

You can search for your polling place here.

Voters can only vote absentee/by mail in Texas with an approved excuse. Approved excuses include: You will be away from your county on Election Day and during early voting; You are sick or disabled; You are 65 years of age or older on Election Day; or You are confined in jail, but eligible to vote.

Texas offers in-person early/absentee voting. No excuse is needed to vote early. Early voting begins the 17th day before election day and ends the 4th day before election day.

Texas has open primaries. A registered voter can select which primary election they vote in. Once they vote in the primary, they affiliate with that party for the remainder of the year and cannot participate in another party’s primary runoff or convention process. 17-year-olds cannot vote in the primary election even if they will be 18 by the corresponding general election.

Photo ID is required to vote in Texas. Valid forms of ID include:
- Texas Driver 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)

If you do not have an approved form of ID, you can submit an alternate form of ID along with a Reasonable Impediment Declaration. If you go to your polling place without an approved form of ID, you will be allowed to complete a provisional ballot, and will then need to submit approved ID to the county voter registrar within 6 days for your ballot to be counted.