Early voting is open: a practical guide to Texas’ new ID and mail-ballot rules, plus where polling places have changed

Early voting is open across Texas right now, and it runs through Friday, October 30. Election Day is November 3. More than 19 million Texans are registered to cast a ballot this year — 19,041,684, a state record. But several rules have shifted since the last time many voters went to the polls, and each one is a quiet way to lose a vote without realizing it: mail ballots now require an ID number that must match your voter registration record, straight-ticket voting is gone, and some counties have fewer polling places than they did four years ago. If you were not registered by the October 5 deadline, you cannot vote this cycle, no matter what else you do.

To vote in person, bring one of seven acceptable photo IDs: a Texas driver license, a Texas personal identification card, a Texas Election Identification Certificate, a Texas handgun license, a U.S. military ID card with a photo, a U.S. citizenship certificate with a photo, or a U.S. passport, in book or card form. If you do not have one of those IDs and cannot reasonably obtain one, you can still vote by signing a Reasonable Impediment Declaration at the polling place and showing a supporting document such as a voter registration certificate, a current utility bill, a bank statement, a government check, a paycheck, or a certified birth certificate.

Voting by mail is limited to Texans who will be 65 or older by Election Day, have a sickness or disability that makes voting in person risky or that requires personal assistance, expect to give birth within three weeks before or after Election Day, will be outside their county for the entire early-voting period and Election Day, are confined in jail but otherwise eligible, or are under involuntary civil commitment. If you qualify, the trap is in the ID number. On both the Application for a Ballot by Mail and the returned carrier envelope, you must write one of four numbers: a Texas driver license number, a Texas personal ID card number, a Texas Election Identification Certificate number, or the last four digits of your Social Security number. That number must match the identifying information on your voter registration record, and the voter-registration VUID number is explicitly not accepted. A missing or mismatched number is precisely how a mail ballot gets set aside rather than counted.

The deadline to apply for a mail ballot is Friday, October 23, and the application must be received — not merely postmarked — by the county clerk by that date. If you have not yet applied, do it immediately, because a letter dropped in the mailbox on or near that Friday can still arrive too late to count. Once you have your ballot, return it so it reaches the clerk by 7 p.m. on Election Day, November 3, if it is not postmarked; or have it postmarked by 7 p.m. on Election Day and received by 5 p.m. on November 4.

Mark every race

Straight-ticket voting — the one-punch option — was eliminated beginning with the 2020 election cycle, so you must select a candidate in each race individually. In Harris County the ballot runs roughly 90 to 100 contests, and some addresses see more than 100 races, which stretches the time a complete ballot takes to fill out, so plan for a longer ballot than in years past.

Polling places shrink and grow

Polling places are also shifting, and nowhere more visibly than in Tarrant County. The county cut its Election Day polling locations from 316 in the 2022 midterm to 224 for this election, and its early-voting locations from 50 to 47 — eliminating 92 Election Day sites and three early-voting sites, 95 total. Four Tarrant County voters, including Fort Worth City Council member Deborah Peoples, sued County Judge Tim O'Hare, Commissioners Matt Krause and Manny Ramirez, and Elections Administrator Clint Ludwig, arguing the cuts disproportionately burden Black, Hispanic, and lower-income voters. ZIP code 76103, where Peoples lives, went from three polling places in the 2022 midterm to none under the new plan.

On October 13, Tarrant County district judge J. Patrick Gallagher denied a temporary injunction that would have restored the 92 eliminated polling places, leaving the reduced plan in effect while the underlying lawsuit continues. Tarrant County cited efficiency and projected turnout, buildings that were no longer operable, accessibility requirements, and remaining above the statutory minimum number of sites. Ludwig testified in court about the reductions' effects on Black and Hispanic voters. Susan Hutchison, attorney for the voters suing the county, put it plainly: "Tarrant County is eroding the right to vote."

Travis County took the opposite approach, expanding to 45 early-voting locations for the 2026 general election, up from 38 in the 2022 midterm, and any registered Travis County voter may use any of the county's 45 early-voting locations. Those sites are open Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. during early voting, and seven locations will stay open until 10 p.m. on October 29 and 30. Travis County Clerk Dyana Limón-Mercado said, "We set out to make this 'the most accessible election in our community's history' by increasing the number of polling locations and expanding voting hours."

Wherever you live, the rules about where you can vote depend on your county. In the 103 Texas counties participating in the Countywide Polling Place Program, registered voters may cast a ballot at any polling location in their county during early voting and on Election Day; in the rest, you may need to use an assigned precinct location. Before you drive anywhere, look up your own early-voting and Election Day polling places on VoteTexas.gov, the Secretary of State's portal.

Before Oct. 30

So, before early voting ends October 30, do these five things:

1. Check your registration status and confirm your polling place or countywide voting option on VoteTexas.gov, especially if you live in a county where locations have changed.
2. Bring one of the seven accepted photo IDs — or, if you cannot reasonably obtain one, be ready to sign a Reasonable Impediment Declaration and show a supporting document.
3. If you are voting by mail, get your application in so it is received by Friday, October 23, not merely postmarked, and make sure the ID number on both the application and the returned envelope matches your registration record.
4. Do not count on straight-ticket voting; mark each race individually and give yourself extra time for a longer ballot.
5. If you mail your completed ballot, have it postmarked by 7 p.m. on November 3 and received by 5 p.m. November 4 — or return it so it reaches the clerk by 7 p.m. on Election Day.