The new voting laws in Texas, built out of Senate Bill 1 in 2021 and a wave of bills passed during the 2025 legislative session, changed how you prove your identity at the polls, how mail ballots are checked and cured, when early voting happens, how curbside voting works, and what poll watchers are allowed to see. If you voted in Texas before 2021, expect several parts of the process to look different.
Photo ID at the Polls
Every in-person voter has to show one of seven approved photo IDs:1VoteTexas.gov. Voter ID
- Texas driver’s license issued by DPS
- Texas personal identification card issued by DPS
- Texas election identification certificate issued by DPS (free of charge)
- Texas handgun license issued by DPS
- U.S. military ID with a photograph
- U.S. citizenship certificate with a photograph
- U.S. passport, book or card
Voters aged 18 to 69 can use one of these IDs expired by up to four years. Voters 70 and older can use an expired ID no matter how long ago it expired, as long as it is otherwise valid. The U.S. citizenship certificate has no expiration restriction.1VoteTexas.gov. Voter ID
If You Don’t Have an Approved ID
You can still vote by signing a Reasonable Impediment Declaration at the polling place. You check a box indicating why getting an ID isn’t reasonable, such as lack of transportation, a work conflict with DPS hours, or lost documents, and you show a supporting document. A certified birth certificate, current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or voter registration certificate all qualify.1VoteTexas.gov. Voter ID
Lying on that declaration is a state jail felony under Texas Election Code Section 63.0013, carrying 180 days to two years of confinement and a fine of up to $10,000.2State of Texas. Texas Election Code Section 63.0013 – False Statement on Declaration of Reasonable Impediment
If you show up with no ID at all, you can cast a provisional ballot. For it to count, you have to visit your county voter registrar’s office within six calendar days after the election and either present an approved photo ID or complete the Reasonable Impediment Declaration there.1VoteTexas.gov. Voter ID Miss that follow-up and the ballot is discarded.
Mail Ballots: Who Qualifies and the ID Number Trap
Texas still limits mail voting to specific categories. You qualify if you are 65 or older on Election Day, have a sickness or disability, will be away from your county throughout the early voting period and Election Day, expect to give birth within three weeks before or after Election Day, or are confined in jail while otherwise eligible.3VoteTexas.gov. Voting by Mail Eligibility Requirements Applications go to the early voting clerk in your county, by mail, fax, or scanned email attachment. There is no online application, and the form should not be sent to the Secretary of State.4Office of the Texas Secretary of State. Application for a Ballot by Mail
Senate Bill 1 added an ID-matching rule that is the single most common reason mail ballots get rejected. On both the application and the carrier envelope holding your completed ballot, you must write either your Texas driver’s license number (or DPS-issued personal ID or election ID certificate number) or, only if you were never issued one, the last four digits of your Social Security number. Whichever number you write must match what’s on file with your voter registration.5VoteTexas.gov. Voting by Mail in Texas
This is where longtime voters get tripped up. If you registered decades ago with a driver’s license number and now write your Social Security digits, the system flags a mismatch even though both numbers belong to you. When in doubt, put both numbers on the form.
Fixing a Defective Ballot
If a clerk finds a problem with your carrier envelope, such as a missing signature or the wrong ID number, you get notice and a chance to correct it. Senate Bill 2964, passed in 2025, now lets clerks reach voters by phone or email, and you can submit the correction by mail or in person.6Office of the Texas Secretary of State. Election Advisory No. 2025-07 The cure window closes six days after Election Day. The state’s ballot tracker at votetexas.gov shows the status of your application and ballot, and checking it is the fastest way to catch a problem while there’s still time to fix it.7VoteTexas.gov. Track Your Mail-in Ballot in Texas
Returning the Ballot
You return your sealed carrier envelope by mail, through a common or contract carrier, or in person on Election Day at your county’s early voting clerk’s office.8VoteTexas.gov. Ballot by Mail Carrier Envelope Paying someone to collect ballots is illegal. Texas Election Code Section 276.015 makes paid vote harvesting, defined as in-person interaction with voters in the presence of a ballot to deliver votes for a specific candidate, a third-degree felony punishable by two to ten years in prison.9State of Texas. Texas Election Code Section 276.015 – Vote Harvesting Unpaid help from a friend or family member that doesn’t try to sway your vote is not covered.
If you requested a mail ballot but want to vote in person instead, bring the ballot to surrender. During early voting, take it to the early voting clerk’s office; on Election Day, hand it to the presiding judge at your precinct. Either way, you’ll complete a written cancellation.10Texas Secretary of State. Cancellation of Mail Ballots – Forms and Uses Without the ballot in hand, you can only vote provisionally, unless the clerk confirms the mailed ballot is still in their possession.
Early Voting Hours
Senate Bill 1 set statewide limits on when polling places can be open. No location can open before 6 a.m. or stay open past 10 p.m., and around-the-clock voting is banned outright.11Texas Legislature Online. Texas Senate Bill 1 – Election Integrity Protection Act of 2021 Drive-through voting from a general-access lane is also prohibited; every voter has to enter a polling structure, with curbside voting as the only exception.12Office of the Texas Governor. Governor Abbott Signs Election Integrity Legislation Into Law
Senate Bill 2753, passed in 2025, restructures the early voting calendar. It keeps the 12-day early voting period but shifts the start date later and removes the three-day gap that used to sit between the end of early voting and Election Day. Sundays during early voting must offer at least nine hours of voting, up from six, and polls must stay open on any holidays falling during that window. The Secretary of State is working with counties on implementation, with a report to the legislature due by August 2027.
Curbside Voting
Curbside voting is still available at every polling place if you are physically unable to enter the building. An election worker brings a ballot or portable voting machine to your vehicle. There’s no diagnosis requirement; the question is simply whether you can physically get inside.13VoteTexas.gov. Curbside Voting
House Bill 521, enacted in 2025, added paperwork. Curbside voters now sign a form swearing under penalty of perjury that they cannot enter the polling place without personal assistance or risk of injury to their health. Anyone who drove a curbside voter to the polls must also sign a form giving their name and address and stating whether they transported multiple voters. Failing to complete these forms is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail or a fine of up to $4,000.
Voter Assistance
You can still bring someone to help you vote if you need physical assistance or a language interpreter. Under Senate Bill 1, that assistant completes a sworn oath: they’ll follow your directions, won’t suggest choices, didn’t pressure you into picking them, and are not your employer or a union agent. The form also asks whether the assistant was paid by a candidate, campaign, or political committee.14Texas Secretary of State. Texas Election Code Form 7-63 – Oath of Assistance and Oath of Interpreter
Several of these provisions are under a federal court injunction. In October 2024, a U.S. District Court ruled that SB 1’s ban on compensated assistance for mail ballots violates Section 208 of the federal Voting Rights Act, which protects the right of voters with disabilities and limited English proficiency to choose their own assistant. The court also struck down the requirement that assistants swear the voter qualifies for help and blocked restrictions on assistance during door-to-door outreach. The oath forms haven’t been redesigned yet, but prosecution under the enjoined provisions is currently blocked, and this area may keep shifting as litigation continues.15VoteTexas.gov. Poll Watchers
Poll Watchers in Your Polling Place
Senate Bill 1 broadened what partisan poll watchers can do while you’re voting. Under Texas Election Code Section 33.056, watchers can sit or stand close enough to see and hear election workers doing their jobs, move freely wherever election activity is happening at their assigned location, inspect returns and records, and take written notes.16State of Texas. Texas Election Code Section 33.056 – Observing Activity Generally
Watchers cannot stand at the voting station while you are marking your ballot or while someone you chose is assisting you. They cannot talk to voters or interfere with the orderly conduct of the election.17Office of the Texas Secretary of State. Election Advisory No. 2022-09 – New Law – Changes to Poll Watcher Requirements Under House Bill 3107 and Senate Bill 1 A watcher who breaches the peace or breaks the law can be removed by the presiding judge.
Other 2025 Rules to Know
The 2025 session added a few more rules that voters will notice on Election Day:6Office of the Texas Secretary of State. Election Advisory No. 2025-07
- House Bill 3909 bans the use of wireless communication devices inside any room where voting is taking place. The presiding judge must post a visible notice of the ban outside the room.
- House Bill 1661 requires election officers to stock at least the number of ballots used in the most recent comparable election, plus 25 percent, cutting the risk that a busy polling place runs out.
- Senate Bill 2216 and Senate Bill 2166 tighten voting-system storage, seals, pollbook testing, and source-code verification, mostly on the administrative side.