How do I vote by mail or early in Texas in 2026?

Register by Monday October 5, 2026, since the 30-day deadline falls on a Sunday and moves to the next business day. Texas does not offer full online voter registration. An application started online must be printed and mailed to the county voter registrar. Applications are also available at registrar offices, libraries, most post offices, and high schools. After your application is accepted, a voter registration certificate is mailed within 30 days.

Early voting runs from Monday October 19 through Friday October 30, 2026. Any registered Texas voter may vote early in person without giving a reason. Polling places on Election Day, November 3, are open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. statewide.

A Texas voter may vote by mail only if they are 65 years or older on Election Day, sick or disabled, expecting to give birth within three weeks before or after Election Day, absent from the county during early voting and on Election Day, civilly committed under Chapter 841 of the Health and Safety Code, or confined in jail but otherwise eligible. Texas does not allow no-excuse absentee voting.

Mail ballot applications must be received by Friday October 23, 2026, 11 days before Election Day. It is not enough to mail the application by that date. You must provide on the application a Texas driver license, Election Identification Certificate, or DPS personal ID number, or the last four digits of your Social Security number if you have none of those, or a statement that no such number has been issued. The number must match your voter registration record. You may cure a defect on an application by the 11th day before Election Day, by mail, in person at the early voting clerk's office, or online through the Secretary of State's Ballot by Mail Tracker.

Mail ballots postmarked by 7 p.m. on Election Day count if received by 5 p.m. on Wednesday November 4, 2026. A ballot not postmarked must arrive by 7 p.m. on Election Day. On the carrier envelope, you must provide the same ID number or statement as on the application. A defect on the carrier envelope may be cured until the sixth day after Election Day, by corrective action form, in person, or online through the Ballot by Mail Tracker for ID defects. The signature verification committee or early voting ballot board must notify you of carrier-envelope defects within two days.

Texas provides a statewide Ballot by Mail Tracker through the My Voter Portal maintained by the Texas Secretary of State, where a mail voter can check the status of their ballot and correct defects on a rejected application by validating identification. To use the tracker you enter first and last name, date of birth, and the last four digits of the Social Security number, or the Texas driver license or DPS personal identification number.