Voting in Texas

The November 3, 2026 Election

These are the dates the Texas Secretary of State has published for the general election on Tuesday, November 3, 2026.

Step	Date
Last day to register	Monday, October 5, 2026 (passed)
Early voting in person	Monday, October 19 through Friday, October 30, 2026
Last day for the county to receive an application for a ballot by mail	Friday, October 23, 2026
Election Day	Tuesday, November 3, 2026

A mail ballot must arrive by 7 p.m. on Election Day. One postmarked by 7 p.m. on Election Day counts if it arrives by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, November 4.

No amendments to the Texas Constitution are on this ballot. Cities, counties, and school districts may have local propositions, so check your county's sample ballot.

Who Can Register

Under Section 13.001 of the Texas Election Code, you can register to vote in Texas if you:

are a United States citizen;
live in the county where you register;
are at least 18, or will be 18 by Election Day (you may apply at 17 years and 10 months);
have not been finally convicted of a felony, or, if you have, have fully discharged the sentence, including any incarceration, parole, supervision, or probation, or have been pardoned;
have not been found by a probate court to be totally mentally incapacitated, or partially incapacitated without the right to vote.

A case of deferred adjudication is not a final conviction for this purpose (Section 11.002(b)).

How to Register

You register with the voter registrar of the county where you live. The application must be in writing and signed, and it can go in by hand, by mail, or by fax with the signed original following within four business days.

Applications are available at county registrars' offices, libraries, most post offices, and high schools. VoteTexas.gov has an online form, but you still print it, sign it, and send it to your county.

Texas law sets the deadline as the 30th day before an election. A registration takes effect 30 days after the application is submitted, and a mailed application counts as submitted on the date it is postmarked (Section 13.143). When the 30th day falls on a weekend or holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day. That is why the deadline for November 3, 2026 was Monday, October 5.

To check whether you are registered, use the Secretary of State's Am I Registered? lookup. Registration in Texas is run by each county, so your county registrar answers questions about your own record.

The ID You Need at the Polls

Section 63.0101(a) lists the photo ID a voter may show:

a Texas driver's license, Texas Election Identification Certificate, or Texas personal identification card, all issued by the Department of Public Safety;
a Texas license to carry a handgun;
a United States military ID card with your photo;
a United States citizenship certificate with your photo;
a United States passport, book or card.

Except for the citizenship certificate, an ID may be expired by up to four years. A voter 70 or older may use one of these IDs no matter how long ago it expired, if it is otherwise valid. The address on your ID does not have to match the address on the voter roll.

If you do not have one of these and cannot reasonably get one, you can still vote. Show a supporting document, such as your voter registration certificate, a current utility bill, a bank statement, a paycheck, a government check, or a certified birth certificate, and sign a Reasonable Impediment Declaration (Section 63.001(i)). The form lists reasons such as lack of transportation, work schedule, illness, or ID that was lost, stolen, or applied for but not received. Election officers may not question the reason you give. A false statement on the form is perjury.

Voting Early

Any registered voter may vote early in person (Section 82.005). For November 3, 2026, early voting runs from Monday, October 19 through Friday, October 30.

Voting by Mail

Texas allows a ballot by mail only for voters who fit one of the categories in Chapter 82 of the Election Code:

you are 65 or older on Election Day;
you have a sickness or physical condition that keeps you from voting in person without needing help or risking your health;
you are expecting to give birth within three weeks before or after Election Day;
you will be away from your county for Election Day and the whole early voting period;
you are confined in jail under the conditions in Section 82.004, such as serving a misdemeanor sentence or awaiting trial after being denied bail.

Lack of transportation, or having to work on Election Day, does not qualify. Military and overseas voters follow separate rules.

You apply to your county's early voting clerk. The application must be received, not just postmarked, by the 11th day before the election (Section 84.007). For November 3, 2026, that day is Friday, October 23. The application asks for your Texas driver's license, personal ID, or Election Identification Certificate number, or the last four digits of your Social Security number if you have none of those. Voters who are 65 or older, or who have a disability, may use one application to request mail ballots for every election in the calendar year.

Provisional Ballots

If your name cannot be found on the roll, or you arrive without acceptable ID, you can cast a provisional ballot after signing an affidavit that you are registered in that precinct and eligible to vote (Section 63.011). If ID was the problem, your ballot counts once you show acceptable ID to the voter registrar within six days after the election (Section 65.0541). You can also leave, get your ID, and come back before the polls close.

Sources

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