Texas

If you are a registered voter and do not have a photo ID that is acceptable for voting, you may apply for a free Texas Election ID Certificate.

To qualify for an Election ID Certificate, you must:

• Provide documentation to verify your US Citizenship
• Provide documentation to verify your identity
• Be eligible to vote in Texas (provide a valid voter registration card or submit a voter registration application)
• Be a Texas resident
• Be 17 years and 10 months or older

Find more details about how to apply for an Election ID Certificate.

VoteRiders can help you apply for a free ID and secure any documents that you need. Get free help now!

A reasonable impediment is a valid reason that is beyond your control and creates an obstacle to getting an acceptable photo ID.

In Texas, that includes: lack of transportation, lack of birth certificate (or other necessary documents) , disability or illness, conflict with your work schedule, family responsibilities, acceptable ID lost or stolen, you have applied for an acceptable form of photo ID but have not yet received it.

Important note: An election officer is not permitted to question the reasonableness of your impediment to getting an ID. For example: If you check “lacks transportation” on your Reasonable Impediment Declaration, the poll worker should not challenge your access to a bus route or other transportation.

To vote under the reasonable impediment exception:

• Bring a supporting ID with you. (See acceptable forms of ID listed above)
• Tell the poll worker that you don’t have a photo ID and could not get one.
• Complete and sign a Reasonable Impediment Declaration
• Vote a regular ballot

Registered voters in Texas need to confirm their identity with photo ID when they vote in person.

If you do not possess and cannot reasonably obtain an acceptable form of ID, you can cast a regular ballot if you complete the Reasonable Impediment Declaration and present a supporting form of ID.

Otherwise, if do not present a valid ID at the polling place, you may cast a provisional ballot.

In order for your ballot to count, you must visit the county voter registrar’s office within six calendar days after the election. You can either:

1. Present one of the 7 acceptable forms of photo ID.
2. If you do not possess and cannot reasonably obtain an acceptable form of photo identification, you may execute a Reasonable Impediment Declaration and present one of the acceptable forms of supporting ID.
3. If applicable, submit one of the temporary affidavits (for example: religious objection or natural disaster).
4.  If applicable, qualify for a permanent disability exemption.

Get in touch with VoteRiders if you have questions or need free help getting ID.

You do not need a “REAL ID” to vote in Texas.

Your driver’s license or state ID card will show a gold star if it meets REAL ID requirements under federal law.

Texas issues only REAL ID-compliant driver’s licenses and state IDs.

If you need to renew your state photo ID or driver’s license (or apply for a new one) you must go through the REAL ID process.

• Texas REAL ID info

Get in touch with VoteRiders if you have questions or need free help securing ID.

No. Texas law does not permit the usage of IDs displayed on electronic devices as a substitute for hard-copy IDs.

Any registered Texas voter is eligible to vote absentee if one of the following applies:

• You will be away from your county on Election Day and during early voting hours
• You are sick or have a disability
• You will be 65 years of age or older on Election Day
• You are confined in jail, but eligible to vote
• You are expecting to give birth within three weeks before or after Election Day.

To find out if you will be receiving a ballot application, check with your local election officials.

Yes, your early voting ballot application must include one of the following (even if any of these documents has expired):

• driver’s license number
• election identification certificate number
• personal identification card number

If you do not have any of the above, the last four digits of your Social Security number.

If you have not been issued any of the required numbers, check the box that says that you have not been issued one of the required numbers. If you have been issued more than one of the required numbers, include them both on your application to ensure that you have included the number that matches your voter registration information on file with the state.

If you don’t see a space for an ID number, it means you’re using an old application, which will not be accepted. The new application can be found here (PDF).

If you received a notice that your mail-in ballot application was rejected because you did not provide an identification number or the number included on your application did not match one of the numbers associated with your voter registration record, you may correct the defect online through the Texas Secretary of State’s Ballot by Mail Tracker, available on the homepage of www.votetexas.gov.

When you log in to the Ballot by Mail Tracker, you will be prompted to enter your personal identification number(s). Once your personal identification number is validated by the Mail Ballot Tracker, the Application for a Ballot by Mail you previously submitted will be processed.

To use the Ballot by Mail Tracker, you must enter:

• Your Texas Driver’s License Number or Texas Personal Identification Number, AND
• The last four digits of your Social Security number AND
• Your residence address as listed in your voter registration record

If you received a notice that your application was rejected for another reason, you may be able to cure the defect by submitting a new application to your county’s Early Voting Clerk with the corrected information.

To confirm your information as listed on your voter registration record, please check the ‘Am I Registered?’ tool on the Texas Secretary of State’s My Voter Portal.

If you have specific questions about your registration or the status of your vote-by-mail application, you should contact your county elections office.

Yes, you must provide one of the following numbers (even if any of these documents has expired):

• driver’s license number
• election identification certificate number
• personal identification card number

If you do not have any of the above, the last four digits of your Social Security number.

If you have not been issued any of the required numbers, check the box that says that you have not been issued one of the required numbers. If you have been issued more than one of the required numbers, include them both on your ballot to ensure that you have included the number that matches your voter registration information on file with the state.

NOTE: If it is your first time voting in a federal election in Texas, please see the federal ID requirements for first-time voters. A federal election is when you vote for the President, your Congressional Representative or your Senators.

Not later than the second business day after a signature verification committee discovers a defect and before the seventh day after election day, the committee shall return the carrier envelope to you by mail, if the committee determines that it would be possible for you to correct the defect and return the carrier envelope before the time the polls are required to close on election day.

If the signature verification committee determines that it would not be possible for you to correct the defect and return the carrier envelope before the time the polls are required to close on election day, the committee may notify you of the defect by telephone or e-mail and inform you that you may request to have your application to vote by mail canceled or come to the early voting clerk’s office in person not later than the sixth day after election day to correct the defect.