TEXAS

Election Information

Upcoming Elections

2008 Primary Runoff Election: 04/8/08 

2008 General Election: 11/4/08

Registration Deadlines

30 days before an election

Specific Deadlines:

  • 2008 Primary Runoff Election: 3/10/08  
  • 2008 General Election: 10/5/08

Where to Obtain Registration Forms

  • Register Online Now 
  • County Voter Registrar’s office
  • Secretary of State’s Office
  • Public libraries
  • Post Offices
  • High Schools
  • Download form
  • Request online

Absentee Voting

Absentee voting is allowed if the voter is:

  • Going to be away from the county on Election Day and during early voting
  • Sick or disabled
  • At least 65 years of age
  • Confined in jail
  • A member of the Armed Forces or a spouse or dependent of a member of the Armed forces
  • A U.S. citizen living overseas who will be at least 18 years of age before the next general election and whose last residence prior to going overseas was in TX

 

Rules and Deadlines

  • Absentee ballots can be found with the early voting clerk and must be requested by the seventh day before an election. Ballots must be returned to the early voting clerk.
  • Ballot must be received by 7 pm on Election Day.
  • For Armed Forces and overseas voters, the early voting clerk must receive the ballot by the fifth day after Election Day, but it must be postmarked on Election Day.

Early Voting

Yes, for all registered voters beginning the 17th day before the election and ending the fourth day before the election.

Identification Requirements

At registration:

  • Current and valid photo identification or
  • A current utility bill,
  • Bank statement,
  • Government check,
  • Paycheck
  • Other government document that shows the name and address of the elector

 

At Polls, all voters must show registration certificate. Voter will also be required to show ID

  • If voting for the first time in TX,
  • If registered to vote by mail on or after January 1, 2003; and
  • If not previously met the identification requirements of the federal Help America Vote Act.

 

Acceptable forms of ID include:

  • Current and valid photo identification or
  • A current utility bill,
  • Bank statement,
  • Government check,
  • Paycheck,
  • Other government document that shows the name and address of the elector

 

How to check registration

Contact your County Voter Registrar’s Office

How to locate polling place

Contact your County Clerk or Elections Administrator

Information for felons

Voter is eligible upon completion of sentence, including probation or parole.


For more information, go to the Secretary of State’s website or go to VOTEXAS.org.

Recent News

Protecting the Voting Rights of Students: The National Campaign for Fair Elections has been at the forefront in protecting the voting rights of students across the country. All too often, states try to restrict students’ ability to vote at their campus address or by absentee ballot when away at school. We are currently working with student voter registration groups in states and on campuses across the country to ensure that young people have the right to vote.

In 2004, the Lawyers’ Committee litigated a historic lawsuit in Waller County, TX. Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) is a historically black college in Texas whose student body is about 90% African American. On November 10th 2003, in the local paper, The Waller Times, the Waller County District Attorney Oliver S. Kitzman threatened students at PVAMU with felony prosecution for “illegal voting” if they registered and voted at school. The Lawyers’ Committee, on behalf of students at PVAMU filed a lawsuit and preliminary injunction on February 5, 2004 to ensure that PVAMU students were able to freely exercise their fundamental right to vote.

A second lawsuit was filed on February 17, 2004 in response to a decision by Waller County officials to reduce the number of days and hours of early voting for the primary. Waller County, like all jurisdictions in Texas, is forbidden by the Voting Rights Act from implementing any voting change without first demonstrating to the U.S. Department of Justice that the change does not worsen the position of minority voters. Waller County failed, however, to submit these changes for pre-clearance.

The case was settled on February 26, 2004. Mr. Kitzman apologized and released a statement encouraging Prairie View A&M University students to register and vote in Waller County. And in the Voting Rights Act enforcement case, the county was prevented from reducing the amount of early voting hours at polling places nearest campus.