Local officials in Texas include city council and school board members.  These officials handle issues that directly affect your daily life, such as schools, roads, water service, public safety, and city services.

At the county level, elected officials are:

• County Judges
• County Commissioners
• District  and County Clerks, Treasurers, Tax Assessors
• Sheriffs
• Constables
• District Attorney 
• Justices of the Peace 
• additional officials focused on law enforcement. 

Local elections in Texas matter because they decide many of the issues people feel most directly in daily life such as who runs local services, taxes and local budgets, how public schools operate.

If you are physically unable to enter the polling place, without personal assistance, you may park at the curbside voting parking place and call the number that is posted. The election clerk will bring a ballot to the car for you. You will also be asked to sign a form declaring that you are unable to enter the polling location without assistance or putting your health at risk.

Contact your elections office immediately to confirm your registration status and learn what steps, if any, you need to remain eligible to vote.

ABBM stands for Application to Vote By Mail. This application needs to be submitted in order to be sent a ballot.

EIC stands for Election Identification Certificate. This is a document that can be obtained from the Department of Public Safety (DPS) as proof of identification for voting. There is no fee involved, but can only be obtained if the voter has none of the other 6 forms of identification for voting.

VUID stands for Voter Unique Identifier or ID. This is a number that appears on your Voter Registration Certificate. The certificate is sent to you 30 days after your initial voter registration is received. Unless you have moved,  a new certificate is provided every 2 years. Important information is provided on the certificate such as the numbers of the precinct and voting districts in which you vote.

Yes. Your choices will not be shared with other voters, employers, family members, or the public.

Ballots are typically counted either by hand, by optical scanners, or by other certified tabulation systems. The basic idea is that voter selections are recorded, checked under established procedures, and added to the totals for each contest.

A ballot is generally considered valid when it follows the instructions required by the election system using it. It may be considered invalid if it is incomplete, damaged, marked in a way the system cannot interpret, or submitted in a form that does not meet the applicable rules.

In general, a voting system records or scans the ballot, stores that record securely, and later includes it in the official counting and verification process.

Different election systems use different tools. Some use paper, some use machines, and some use both.

If you have already received the ballot, bring it with you to the polling location and give it to the election worker. You will be asked to sign a form verifying that you had requested a ballot by mail but now would like to vote in person.

Election workers will send the voter a notice explaining the defect along with a corrective action form to complete. The voter can correct the defect at the early voting place or vote in person during early voting or on election day.

The election workers will check to make sure the drivers license number or the Social Security number on your ballot envelope matches the ID numbers on the application that was submitted to request the ballot.

Your ballot is based on where you live. The candidates, offices, and local measures on your ballot are chosen based on your home address and voting district.

Two people can receive different ballots because they live in different districts or are eligible to vote on different local contests and measures.

A provisional ballot is used when there is a question about whether a voter is eligible to vote. The ballot is reviewed after Election Day and counted if the voter is confirmed to be eligible. 

A voter may cast a provisional ballot if their name does not appear on the list of registered voters because of an administrative error, if their name is not on the voter rolls but they believe they are registered, if they do not have their voter ID or alternate ID, or if they requested a vote-by-mail ballot but lost or forgot it.

The voter has within 6 calendar days of the election to visit the county voter registrar’s office to  present one of the  seven acceptable forms of photo ID, a completed Reasonable Impediment Declaration or affidavits involving religious objection, natural disaster or a permanent disability exemption.

Provisional voters will receive a notice in the mail by the 10th day after the local canvass advising them if their provisional ballots were counted, and if they were not counted, the reason why. You may also contact your county election administrator.

You need to pick a party in order to receive the correct ballot. There are two separate ballots, one for Democratic candidates and one for Republican candidates. Using either of those ballots to vote does not register the voter in that party.

A limited ballot is available during early voting for a registered voter who has moved from one Texas county to another and will not be registered in the new county before Election Day. Voters should contact their county election office for details.

You must update your new address online 30 days before the election. If it is less than 30 days, you will need to vote in your previous location. 

Update Address Here

Texas has 254 counties, and each county manages the day-to-day work of administering elections for its residents. Counties run elections locally. They are responsible for voter registration, voting locations, voting schedules, ballot information, and local election administration, including information about becoming a Volunteer Deputy Registrar or election worker.

The Texas Secretary of State provides rules, oversight, and statewide coordination for elections.

No. Texas no longer allows straight-ticket voting. Voters must make a separate selection for each race on the ballot..

Measures and propositions are proposals that voters can decide on during elections. At the state level, if a proposal is approved by voters, it becomes a constitutional amendment.

To amend the Texas Constitution, a proposed amendment must first pass both houses of the Texas Legislature by a two-thirds majority. Then it must be approved by a majority of Texas voters.

No. Unlike in some states, Texas does not allow citizen-led ballot initiatives, referendums, or petitions to amend the state constitution.

A Constitutional Amendment Election gives Texas voters the opportunity to approve or reject proposed changes to the Texas Constitution.

Constitutional Amendment Elections are held in odd-numbered years.

Primaries are elections that political parties use to choose candidates for a general election. During a Primary Election candidates from the two major political parties run against each other to determine who will be the party nominee in November.

Texas has an open primary system. This means all eligible voters can take part. You do not have to sign up with a political party ahead of time. When you vote in the primary, you choose one party’s primary election or convention in which to participate.

A candidate must win more than 50% of the vote to win in the primary. If no one reaches that majority, the top two candidates run against each other in an election.The winner of the runoff is the one who gets the most votes.

In many parts of Texas, one party is strongly favored, so the winner of that party’s primary often goes on to win the general election. That makes primary elections an important opportunity for voters to influence who will hold office.

No. The Republican and Democratic parties choose their candidates through primary elections. The Libertarian and Green parties choose their candidates at party conventions held at other times.

No. In Texas, you do not have to register with a political party ahead of time. When you vote in a primary, you simply choose which party’s primary you want to vote in.

No. Once you vote in one party’s primary election or convention, you cannot vote in another party’s primary or convention during that election cycle.

Primary elections are held every two years in even-numbered years.

Yes, you can vote in the runoff if you did  not vote in the primary election.

Once you have voted in a party’s primary election or convention, you cannot vote in another party’s primary runoff election.

In the general election, you can vote for any candidate of your choice, regardless of party.