What Texans need to know to cast their ballots in the 2024 General Election
TEXAS — If you're not registered to vote in the November 2024 general election, the deadline to register is October 7.
Don't know if you're registered? You can check that and find your polling location at votetexas.gov. You have to register to vote by mail or in person - there is no online option.
If you recently moved, changed your name, or need to update any other details, the October 7 deadline is also your last chance to make those changes.
Early voting begins October 21 and ends November 1.
If you want to vote by mail, the last day to apply is October 25.
In-person voting is November 5.
What do I need to bring?
Voters must present one of the acceptable forms of identification at the polls, according to Texas law. The seven acceptable forms of ID include:
- Texas driver license
- Texas election ID certificate
- Texas personal ID card
- Texas handgun license
- U.S. citizenship certificate with photo
- U.S. military ID card
- U.S. passport
Who is eligible to vote?
Only U.S. citizens are permitted to vote under both federal and state law.
According to the Texas Secretary of State's Office:
- You must be a resident of the county where you submit your application to register.
- You must be at least 17 years and 10 months old on the date your voter registration application is submitted, and at least 18 years old on Election Day.
- Convicted felons are not allowed to vote (though you may be eligible if you have completed your sentence, probation, and parole).
Dallas County's elections administrator recently responded to what he calls "misinformation" on social media about whether the homeless can register to vote.
The elections office clarified that it is not illegal for the unhoused to vote after a video from an election worker training went viral. Those claims made on social media were based on a widely shared video that shows election workers being told they could use a church address to register homeless people to vote.
Dallas County Election Administrator Heider Garcia says Texas state law is very clear, and having a home is not a requirement to be eligible to vote. Garcia said voters can use an address other than their residential address, like a church, as a mailing address.
He went on to say, "Our unhoused population in Dallas County, many of whom are veterans, deserve to be treated like every other voter who is allowed to use an alternate mailing address."
Dallas County Elections said U.S. citizens eligible to vote under federal and state law will be allowed to register to vote, whether they are unhoused or not.
Non-citizens cannot register to vote
When voter registrars receive applications, they go to the Texas Secretary of State's Office and are checked for eligibility against Department of Public Safety and Social Security Administration data. Local voter registrars work with their county district attorney's office to check citizenship status using responses from jury summons questionnaires.
Allegedly improper attempts at voter registration have been the subject of investigations by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's office.
Christina Adkins, who oversees the Election Division in the Secretary of State Office, said in a report to the House in August that the office doubled staff to monitor voter registration activities and validate citizenship for voters.
Adkins said the Texas Department of Public Safety provides data on instances where citizenship is established and there is voter registration; that info is then sent to the counties in question for investigation.
The Texas Secretary of State's Office notes, "There are additional safeguards built into Texas law that help voter registrars identify noncitizens in order to remove these registrations from the Texas voter rolls and prevent noncitizens from voting in Texas elections."
A House member asked Adkins if there has been a drastic increase in improper voter registration with migrant surges at the border. Adkins said there has been no unusual activity and the past few years have been consistent.