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The Deadline's Tuesday: Here's Everything You Need To Know About Registering To Vote

Christopher Connelly/KERA

Tuesday is the last day to register to vote in the November elections in Texas. It’s also the last day to update your address if you’ve moved since the last time you voted.

Here’s everything you need to know to do either of those things:

Can I register?

The Texas Secretary of State is the state’s election authority. It says you must be:

  • A U.S. citizen.
  • A resident of the county where you submit the application
  • At least 17 years and 10 months old -- and 18 by Election Day
  • Not a convicted felon (though you may be eligible to vote if you have completed your sentence, probation and parole).
  • Not declared either totally mentally incapacitated or partially mentally incapacitated without the right to vote by a court exercising probate jurisdiction. 
Am I already registered to vote?

You can check your voter registration status online here. If the information, including your name and address, is not correct, make sure to update it.

Not registered? Get an application.

Texas is not the easiest place to register to vote. There is no online registration (though you can fill out a form online, print it and either mail it in or deliver it). If you need to register, you have to do it in person or by mail.

Forms on the Secretary of State's website were down for most of the day Saturday, but they're back up now.

You can download an application here. (In Spanish, here.)

Print it. Fill it out. Mail it or deliver it to your county voting registrar by tomorrow.

You can also pick up a registration application at the elections office in your county (find addresses here). The biggest counties in North Texas:

  • Collin County, 2010 Redbud Blvd., Suite 102, McKinney TX 75069. Call (972) 547-1990.
  • Dallas County, 2377 North Stemmons Freeway, Suite 820, Dallas TX 75207. Call (214) 819-6300.
  • Denton County, P.O. Box 1720 Denton 76202. Call (940) 349-3200.
  • Tarrant County, P.O. Box 961011, Fort Worth, TX 76161. Call (817) 831-8683.
Where do I mail the application?

That depends on what county you live in.

See, the Secretary of State is Texas’ top election official, but voter registration and the elections themselves are run by county governments. So, you have to mail your registration application to your county election administrator.

Matt Largey, KUT

How many North Texans are registered to vote?

Dallas County elections administrator Toni Pippins-Poolesaid via email that about 77 percent of eligible Dallas residents have registered to vote. She said about 1,000 to 1,600 people are registering daily in the days leading up to Tuesday.

That's 16 percentage points lower than Travis County, where KUT is located.

Collin County is looking at around 580,000 registered voters. Elections administrator Bruce Sherbetexpects that number to reach 585,000 by tomorrow’s deadline.

He says it’s a jump of about 100,000 registered voters from 2014. His office is seeing about 1,000 people filing their forms per day.

Collin County residents weren’t eligible to register online via Vote.org, but Sherbet says about a dozen forms were sent to Dallas County by mistake. Sherbet’s office has notified those voters that they need to re-file with a wet signature.

Tarrant County’s voting registrar declined to provide registration estimates ahead of the deadline.

Miguel Perez, KERA News

Matt has been a reporter at KUT off and on since 2006. He came to Austin from Boston, then went back for a while--but couldn't stand to be away--so he came back to Austin. Matt grew up in Maine (but hates lobster), and while it might sound hard to believe, he thinks Maine and Texas are remarkably similar.
Miguel Perez is an assistant producer at KERA. He produces local content for Morning Edition and KERA News. He also produces The Friday Conversation, a weekly interview series with North Texas newsmakers.