Early voting in Texas for the midterm election begins Oct. 19. Here is where Harris County voters can cast their ballots early.
Early voting hours:
Early voting begins at 7 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 19, and runs until Oct. 30. Below is the schedule for Harris County early voting locations:
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Polling locations:
Throughout early voting, Harris County will have 75 polling locations.
Voters in Harris County can cast ballots at any polling location across the county, regardless of where they live.
The list of all 75 locations can be found on the Harris County Clerk's website.
On Election Day, the county plans to have over 600 polling locations open across the county.
Registration information:
The state-imposed deadline to register for the Nov. 3 midterm election was Oct. 5. Residents can verify their registration status online to ensure their information is up to date.
A statewide search tool is available on the website of the Texas Secretary of State's Office.
Voters in Harris County, which includes Houston, can check their registration status on the website for the Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector and Voter Registrar.
Acceptable forms of ID
Registered voters can cast provisional ballots without any form of identification, but that requires some legwork after voting. To more quickly cast your ballot, bring one of the following forms of photo ID to your polling location:
For voters aged 18-69, the photo ID must be valid or have expired no more than four years beforehand. For voters who are 70 or older, there are no time limits regarding an expired ID. Citizenship certificates do not have expiration dates.
Voters with no approved photo ID may apply for an Election Identification Certificate from DPS at no charge.
If voters do not have any of the aforementioned forms of photo ID, they can fill out a Reasonable Impediment Declaration and show a copy or original of one of the following forms of ID:
Also acceptable is a certified domestic birth certificate or document confirming birth that is admissible in a court of law that establishes identity. This could include a birth document from a foreign country.
The Reasonable Impediment Declaration form can be found online.
If voters are unable to provide identification or one of the aforementioned supporting documents, they can vote provisionally by signing a provisional affidavit and curing their ballot within six days after the election. They can cure their ballots by bringing an approved form of photo ID to their local voter registrar or elections office.
Exemptions to photo ID requirement:
Voters with a disability may apply with their county voter registrar for a permanent exemption to showing an acceptable photo ID or following the Reasonable Impediment Declaration procedure at the polls. Voters with a religious objection to being photographed may apply for a temporary exemption to those requirements. Voters should contact their local voter registrar for more details about those exemptions.
Additional election information can be found in Houston Public Media's how-to-vote guide.
Houston Public Media’s Smita Patel created the interactive graphic for this article.