Deadline Approaching: Register to vote in Texas primary election

AUSTIN — Texas Secretary of State John Scott reminded all eligible Texas voters to make sure they are registered to vote ahead of the January 31st voter registration deadline for the March 1, 2022, Primary Elections in Texas.

Voters registered by January 31st can also participate in Early Voting, which begins on February 14th and ends February 25th, 2022. In Texas, voters register with their respective county voter registrars, which are housed within Elections Administrator offices or Tax Assessor-Collector offices, depending on the county.

Secretary Scott encouraged all Texans who are eligible to get registered and get informed as they prepare to head to the polls next month:

“Registering to vote in Texas is easy and straightforward – so long as you are a qualified voter, you can send in a voter registration application to your county’s voter registrar by January 31st and you’ll be eligible to vote in the upcoming Primary Election,” Secretary Scott said. “We want all eligible Texans to participate in all of this year’s upcoming elections, including the Primary Elections in which voters will choose the candidates to appear on the November 2022 General Election ballot. Don’t wait until the last minute – start the registration process today!”

To be eligible to vote in Texas, you must be:

• A United States citizen;
• A resident of the county where you submit the application;
• At least 17 years and 10 months old on the date your voter registration application is submitted, and 18 years of age on Election Day.
• Not finally convicted of a felony (you may be eligible to vote once you have completed your sentence, probation, and parole); and
• Not declared by a court exercising probate jurisdiction to be either totally mentally incapacitated or partially mentally incapacitated without the right to vote.

Texas is an open primary state, which means that voters do not ‘register’ as members of a particular political party. Rather, eligible Texas voters can cast a ballot in either party’s primary election – but not both. Primary Elections are run by the Republican and Democrat parties in each of Texas’ 254 counties. Party chairs in each county are responsible for conducting voting on Election Day, while county election officials administer the Early Voting period.

Texans can check to verify their registration status ahead of the January 31st deadline by visiting the Texas Secretary of State’s My Voter Portal.

Registering to vote for the first time?

To register to vote in Texas, simply complete a voter registration application and return it to your county election office at least 30 days before the upcoming election date.

To complete an application, you may:

• Complete an application using the Texas Secretary of State’s online voter registration application module. Simply fill in the required information, print, sign, and mail the completed application directly to your county election office;
• Request a printed application. The Texas Secretary of State’s office will mail a postage-paid voter registration application to the address provided; OR
• Contact or visit your county’s voter registrar to complete the voter registration process.

Register to vote when renewing your Driver License or State ID card

If you’re not already registered to vote but have an existing Texas Driver License or state identification card, you can register to vote online when renewing, replacing, or changing your contact information for either of these cards through the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS).

Follow the steps on the DPS web portal to update your driver’s license information, and you will be given the option to register to vote when renewing or updating your information.

Update your voter registration information online

Whether you’ve recently moved or changed your name, you can now update all your information on your voter registration record through our portal on Texas.gov.

Click here to update your voter registration information online.**