Our Voter Education Hub has everything you need to be a voter. Take your future into your own hands and protect your freedoms at the ballot box.
Quick Links
Important Dates to Know
Voter Registration Deadline: Oct. 10
Early Voting: Oct. 23 – Nov. 3
Election Day: Nov. 7
Who We Are
Founded in 1995, Texas Freedom Network is a statewide non-partisan, grassroots organization building an informed and effective movement toward equality and social justice. We’ve grown into a grassroots network of more than 150,000 individuals, organizations, and faith leaders.
Register Texans to Vote!
Right now, there are thousands of Texans who qualify to vote — they just need the support to register. Looking for an actionable way to support our democracy? Become a VDR and register people to vote!
FAQs: How You Can Vote for Change
You can confirm your registration status on the Texas Secretary of State’s website. If you can’t find your registration, call your county voter registrar’s office to confirm your status.
Find your polling place using the “My Voter Portal” from the state of Texas.
On Election Day, if your county participates in the Countywide Polling Place Program (CWPP) – commonly referred to as ‘Vote Centers’ – you can vote at any location in your county of residence.
If your county does not participate in the CWPP, you can only vote at the voting precinct assigned to you. Find your polling place here.
You can use one of the following 7 forms of photo identification (can be expired up to four years):
- Texas Driver License issued by DPS
- Texas Election Identification Certificate
- Texas personal identification card issued by DPS
- Texas license to carry a handgun issued by DPS
- United States military identification card containing the person’s photograph
- United States citizenship certificate containing the person’s photograph
- United States passport
That’s okay. As long as your name matches, your ID will be accepted. Texas does not require the address to match.
You can still make address or name changes online until the voter registration deadline. After this deadline passes, you have to vote in the county where you are registered to vote. However, voting by mail might be an option for you. See the FAQ below on voting by mail eligibility and how to obtain a vote by mail application.
The voter registration applications and the vote by mail applications are completely different and separate forms. If you would like to vote by mail you can check if you qualify and request a Vote By Mail Application. However, in order to vote by mail, you must be registered to vote. If you send a filled out mail in ballot, you cannot also try to vote in-person.
You can vote by mail if:
- You will be outside of the county during Early Voting AND Election Day
- You who are sick or have a disability
- You are confined in jail without a felony conviction
- You are 65 or older on Election Day
- You are expected to give birth within three weeks before or after Election Day
If you are eligible, you can request an application to vote by mail here.
But keep this in mind: Applications to vote by mail must be in the hands of elections officials at least 11 days before the election. If you want to vote by mail, you must move quickly and submit your application as soon as possible.
Yes! The Voter ID card is not required if you have one of the following forms of photo identification (can be expired up to four years):
- Texas Driver License issued by DPS
- Texas Election Identification Certificate
- Texas personal identification card issued by DPS
- Texas license to carry a handgun issued by DPS
- United States military identification card containing the person’s photograph
- United States citizenship certificate containing the person’s photograph
- United States passport
For voters aged 18-69, ID must be current or have expired no more than 4 years before being presented for voter qualification at the polling place. If you are 70 years of age or older, you may use a form of acceptable photo identification that has expired if the identification is otherwise valid.
The state law passed by the 2021 Texas Legislature changed voting for Texans in the following ways:
- Mail-in-ballot voters must now provide ID on both the application and the return carrier envelope for their completed ballot.
- Election officials are no longer allowed to send vote-by-mail applications forms to voters who have not gone through the process of requesting one.
- Anyone who helps someone else in filling out a ballot at the polls – due to help needed because of language barriers, physical mobility, etc. – must now sign a form disclosing their relationship to the voter. The person assisting must also recite an oath stating that they did not pressure or coerce the voter into choosing them as their assistant.
- There is now a ban drive-through and 24-hour early voting. Both of those methods were used by elections administrators in 2020 to allow for safe voting access during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, helping more than 127,000 people exercise their right to vote safely.
Contact the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and Texas Civil Rights Project election protection hotline at (866) OUR-VOTE.
A runoff election is what happens when no candidate gets 50% of the votes in an election.
The top two candidates will proceed to a runoff election, where Texans will cast their ballot to decide who will represent them.
Runoff elections will look different depending on where you live, from the candidates on the ballot to the dates of voting.
Any voter registered in the candidate’s area of representation can vote in a runoff. Even if you didn’t vote in the general election, you can still vote in the runoff!
Why You Should Vote
It’s important to be engaged, informed, and always vote — not just in presidential elections, but in your state and local elections, too! Local and state governments are responsible for everything from education and library services, to infrastructure and public transportation, to rent costs and affordable housing.
Local politics have the most direct effect on your daily life and your community, and your vote really does matter!
Races We’re Watching
There are important local school board seats up for election on Nov. 7. School board elections are crucial because the board is ultimately responsible for the success or failure of a local district’s public education.
Meet the candidates in the races we’re watching below.
TRUSTEE, PLACE 1
TRUSTEE, PLACE 2
Learn about the issues Texas public schools are facing.
Religious Right’s Efforts to Ban Books in Texas Schools Fails in Court, Texas Freedom Network Celebrates Judge’s Order on HB 900
U.S. District Judge Alan Albright yesterday issued a written order stopping the state from implementing HB 900, which sought to completely ban or restrict materials in public school libraries by creating a vague and undefined rating system with multiple levels of review by several state agencies.
Conservative Education Program, PragerU, Sets Eyes on Texas.
What it Means for Texans and Their Families. At the center of that controversy is board member Julie Pickren – yes, the same Julie Pickren who participated in the January 6 United States Capitol attack pushing for the overturn of the presidential election results. Pickren is known for having a lot of political conspiracy theories…
New Texas Laws Taking Effect Sept. 1, 2023, and What They Mean for You
Learn how the new Texas laws taking effect Sept. 1, 2023, will affect you, your friends, and your family.
Right-Wing SBOE Member Julie Pickren Attempts to Politicize Texas Classrooms Through Announcement with Controversial Vendor PragerU
Julie Pickren yesterday claimed in a video that materials from PragerU, a controversial vendor already introduced in Florida public schools, will soon be available in Texas schools. Board members have not yet met to discuss the adoption of educational materials, nor have parents, students, or educators had the opportunity to testify publicly on the matter.
REPORT: Proposed Textbooks Could Help Texas Students Learn More About Climate Change
Texas State Board of Education, a Notorious Hotbed of Anti-Science Politics, Will Vote This Fall on Which Textbooks to Adopt for Public Schools FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEAugust 22, 2023Contact:Emily Witt, Texas Freedom Network (TFN), [email protected] Oh, National Center for Science Education (NCSE), [email protected] https://youtu.be/rWHftC1oAXM AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Freedom Network Education Fund and National Center for…
This National Parents’ Day, Texas Families Are Raising Kids in an Oppressive Pressure Cooker While Our Parental Rights Are Violated
Right-wing lawmakers weaponized parental rights throughout the 2023 legislative session, then crafted bills to turn their vitriol into law.
Voting isn’t always easy in Texas – but Democracy From The Ground Up (DFGU) is on a mission to ensure you can vote for change.
DFGU is led in coalition by Common Cause Texas, MOVE Texas, Texas Civil Rights Project, and Texas Freedom Network. We aim to rebuild our election system starting at the local level by using community power to advocate for and implement 15 pro-voter reforms in fifteen counties across the state.
Past DFGU Wins:
In 2019 and 2020, our Democracy from the Ground Up campaign successfully implemented more than 10 reforms in various counties, benefiting more than 50% of the state’s population.
- Denton County: Worked to recruit high school and college students to participate in local Student Poll Worker Programs to supplement an anticipated decline in poll worker availability.
- Tarrant County: Regularly updated the County Elections website, including without limitation voter registration tools, polling place locators, and any feature that estimates wait times at polling places, and ensured that it is accurate at all times.
- Cameron County: Announced planned polling locations at least one month in advance of the election.
- Hidalgo County: Boosted curbside voting so that eligible voters can be processed as they drive up to designated areas without them having to go inside to request curbside voting (required by current law).
- El Paso County: Gained community input about planned locations of polling places.
- Bexar County: Verified that all polling locations in the County comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
- Hays County: Modified county website to display recommended statements regarding vote-by-mail as well as the link to apply for a mail-in ballot with deadline dates clearly posted.
- Travis County: Instituted a tracking system for vote-by-mail applications and ballots so people can check status.
- Harris County: Mailed postage-paid vote-by-mail applications to all voters 65 or older.
- Brazos County: Instructed poll workers that no electioneering on PPE is allowed.
- Dallas County: Took measures recommended by CDC to protect poll workers, including securing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), encouraging voters to wear masks including through a posted sign, marking out social distance spacing for voters waiting in line, and making sure polling places have supplies to ensure public safety, including hand sanitizer and materials for safe ballot marking.
