FILE – In this Sept. 8, 2020 photo, voting booths are kept socially distant at the Chesterfield, N.H. polling site. Democrats and Republicans are involved in hundreds of lawsuits across the country relating to the upcoming election. The lawsuits concern the core fundamentals of the American voting process, including how ballots are cast and counted.(Kristopher Radder/The Brattleboro Reformer via AP)
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Election Day is almost a month away. KXAN is here to give you up-to-date information, like how to register to vote, checking your voter status and important dates you need to know for this year’s 2020 Presidential Election.
Am I eligible to vote?
According to votetexas.gov, a website by the Texas Secretary of State, you’re eligible to register if you meet the following criteria:
- You are a United States citizen;
- You are a resident of the county where you submit the application;
- You are at least 17 years and 10 months old, and you are 18 years of age on Election Day;
- You are not a convicted felon (you may be eligible to vote if you have completed your sentence, probation and parole); and
- You have not been declared by a court exercising probate jurisdiction to be either totally mentally incapacitated or partially mentally incapacitated without the right to vote.
How to register to vote
The deadline to register to vote in the November 3 election is October 5.
Online: You can register by filling out a form on the Texas Secretary of State website. After filling out the online form, the website will ask you to print it, sign it and mail it to your county’s Registrar of Voters—the form will provide you with the right address. You application must be postmarked by October 5 in order to be eligible.
Contacting your local voter registrar: You can contact your local voter registrar to see what options are available in registering to vote. You can find their contact information through this online directory.
Checking your voter status
Unsure if you’re registered to vote in Texas? You can check your status on the Texas Secretary of State website. The website will ask you to enter your Texas Driver’s License number, your Voter ID or your name, date of birth and county.
You can also check your polling location and early voting locations on the website.
Voting in-person
If you plan to vote in-person, you can do so during early voting or on Election Day. When you get to the polling location, you must have one of these seven valid IDs, according to VoteTexas.gov:
- Texas Drivers License
- Texas Election Certificate
- Texas Personal ID card
- Texas Handgun License
- U.S Citizenship Certificate with photo
- U.S Military ID with photo
- U.S passport
If you don’t have one of the accepted forms of ID and cannot get one, you can also use other alternative forms of ID which include:
- A government document that includes your name and address. You must also have your Voter Registration Certificate
- A paycheck or government check
- A bank statement
- A current utility bill
- A birth certificate
If you use one of the alternative forms of ID at your polling location, you have to sign a Voter’s Reasonable Impediment Declaration. The form is to confirm your identity and that you could not provide one of the seven acceptable forms of ID.
Mail-in voting
According to the Texas Secretary of State website, you can request a mail-in ballot if you meet one of the criteria:
- Be 65 years old or older
- Be sick or disabled
- Be out of the country on Election Day or during early voting
- Be confined in jail but still eligible to vote
You can request an application for a mail-in ballot online here or print out the form. Once you fill out the form, you must mail it to the early voting clerk in your county. Their address would be the same as the your County Election Office. The Early Voting Clerk would be the Elections Administrator or County Clerk.
You may also hand-deliver your ballot to a designated drop-off location, if your county allows it.
Know what’s on your ballot
On Nov. 3, you could not just be voting for president but on city propositions or other elected officials too, like a Senator.
To see what you could be voting on in your ballot, Vote411 will give you a personalized ballot, showing who or what you will be voting on. All you have to do is put in your address.
The website is run by the League of Women Voters, a non-partisan organization. The League has a voter guide as well.
Important Dates to Know
- October 5: Voter registration deadline for Nov. 3, 2020 election
- October 13: Early voting begins (dates and hours may vary depending on where you live)
- October 23: Last day to request absentee ballot
- October 30: Early voting ends
- November 3: Election Day, absentee ballots must be postmarked by 7 p.m.
- December 15: Runoff Elections, if needed
County Elections Offices
Below are links to each county elections website in the KXAN coverage area. Each will have information including phone numbers, polling locations and addresses.
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