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Elections

You Need To Bring ID To Vote — Here Are Your Options

KC Ivey
/
Flickr Creative Commons

Voter identification requirements are different this election. Seven forms of photo ID are accepted at the polls, and now, several types of supporting documentation will suffice if you don’t have one.

Texas was forced to scale back its voter ID requirements for this election after the Supreme Court in July ruled the state's 2011 lawviolated the Voting Rights Act.

To be eligible to vote you must be a U.S. citizen, 18 years old by Election Day (Nov. 8) and living in the county that matches your registration. Also, you must not be serving a sentence or parole for a felony conviction. Read more from the Texas Secretary of State's office on voting.

Here are the 7 acceptable forms of voter ID:

The following are acceptable forms of identification to bring:

  • Texas driver license issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS)
  • Texas Election Identification Certificate (issued by DPS)
  • Texas personal identification card (issued by DPS)
  • Texas license to carry a handgun (issued by DPS)
  • U.S. military identification card that has a photo
  • U.S. citizenship certificate that has a photo
  • U.S. passport

If a voter can't present one of those seven forms of ID, he or she can sign a declaration at the polling place explaining why he or she can't obtain of the approved forms and provide one of the following forms of supporting documentation:

  • An original, certified birth certificate
  • A valid voter registration certificate
  • A copy or original of one of the following: current utility bill, bank statement, government check, or paycheck or other government document that shows the voter’s name and an address.

Government documents that include a photo must be original and cannot be copies.
 
Let KERA know if you have problems at the polls
You can get involved in Election Day by texting TXDECIDES to 69866. We’ll check in to find out how long it took you to vote and whether you had or saw any problems. You can also tweet about voting issues you see with the hashtag #TXDecides. Read more about Electionland.

More information

If you have problems voting call the Secretary of State for Texas at (800) 252-VOTE. Also, review your rights as a voter, and that includes voters with disabilities.