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livingdebThis information applies to Travis County, Texas, but much applies to the entire state and some to the entire country. It's all subject to change. Check out Travis County's Ballot By Mail page for the latest.
You Must Apply
Before you can vote, you must register to vote and you must apply for a "ballot by mail." If you've already registered, check that you are still registered. (VUID = Voter's Unique ID#; TDL = Texas Driver License#.) If you have moved, you will need to update your address. If you've moved to another county, you will need to re-register in your new county.
Every year you must reapply to vote by mail. If you can check the "annual" box, you will need to apply only once per year, otherwise check the election you need (the "November election" is the only one left this year). Also check the "Any Resulting Runoff" box if you want to get ballots for runoffs.
Ancient Tech
You can get your ballot-by-mail application online and can even fax or e-mail it, but then you must also send it via snail mail. There are no drop-boxes.
The application is a PDF of a document meant to be printed on the front and back of cardstock with perforated adhesive tabs. When you print it on normal paper, the directions (about not removing perforated tabs and moistening to seal) make no sense. You can just put the form page in a normal envelope and mail it. Or you can print the second page, too, and just fold the whole thing in half and tape it shut to make its own envelope. If you have the state version rather than the county version I linked to, you'll have to fill in the address for your county (for Travis County, it's: Early Voting Clerk, Dana DeBeauvoir, Travis County Clerk, Elections Devision, PO Box 149325, Austin, Texas 78714-9325).
(Please remember that the form then has to be accessed by humans so they can enter your information into the system. You do not need to glue it or staple it or tape the entire edge from corner to corner with no gap for a letter opener.)
Your ballot must also be mailed.
If snail mail is ancient history to you, you may not have envelopes or stamps or even know how to deal with an envelope. It is a pain to get just one envelope or just one stamp--I recommend asking a neighbor. The side of the envelope without the flap is where you put the address, front and center. The stamp goes in the upper right corner.
I recommend including a return address (put your name and address in the upper left corner). This is optional, but the redundancy can be very helpful in case things go wrong, like partial destruction or missing postage.
Postage
Don't forget to add postage if necessary (some states pay it). With a general election, the ballot may be so thick that you need more than just a forever stamp. But don't sweat it too much because your mail-in ballot will be sent regardless if it has the right postage (the board of elections will have to pay). (FYI, I have heard of income tax returns sent back for not enough postage, so don't assume the US Postal Service is always cool with things that have important government deadlines, but in this case they are.)
Pandemic
In Texas, only certain categories of people can vote by mail, and these categories do not specifically include people in pandemics. However, you can vote by mail if you have a disability which is defined as a "sickness or physical condition" that prevents a voter from appearing in person without the risk of "injuring the voter’s health."
Although the case could still be brought to the US Supreme Court, the latest Texas Supreme Court ruling currently stands. That ruling says that:
a) not yet being immune to covid-19 doesn't count as a disability
b) the voter decides what constitutes a disability
c) "We agree, of course, that a voter can take into consideration aspects of his health and his health history that are physical conditions in deciding whether, under the circumstances, to apply to vote by mail because of disability."
So, maybe you can and maybe you can't. One thing I do know is that if you check the "disability" box, that counts. Do not write any extra information about that disability. Last I heard, if you do write something about the pandemic, they have to reject your application. Edited 9/24/20 to add: Not true, but there's still no need to explain or justify your disability.
I do not know if there will be people investigating voters who have checked the disability box for the first time this year. I have never heard of such a thing before, but who knows what can happen? It looks like having pre-existing conditions is legally defensible. (If one of your conditions that makes you at risk is being 65 or older, just check that box.)
Security
You can send multiple applications within one envelope, but not multiple ballots. Each voter mails their own ballot separately.
Your ballot will probably arrive folded roughly--but not exactly--in fourths so that the folds don't cross the black boxes on the edges that are used by the automated ballot reader. Fight your inner perfectionist and just re-fold it the same way before you send it.
The ballot comes with an envelope for you to use. You must use the included envelope which has your voter information on it (the ballot does not, because it's a secret ballot). They use the envelope to decide whether to count your vote, the same way they check your ID in person to decide whether to let you vote.
Also, you must sign across the flap of the envelope. They do not give you much room to do that what with all the writing around that area. But if there is no signature at all, or if it's clearly not the same as the signature you used on your application, your ballot may not be accepted.
When your ballot is received, they check if you have already voted in person. If so, your ballot is discarded. If not, your ballot is checked in. Then if you try to vote in person after your ballot has been checked in, you will be turned away. Edited 9/24/20 to add: Actually, I don't know what they do; I just know that when you try to check in to vote in person, a flag will appear.
Mistakes
(Edited 9/10/20 to add this section.)
Ballot Request Form
Extra contact information is optional on your ballot request form, but if you include a phone number and/or e-mail address, it's easier for elections staff to contact you in a timely manner about any mistakes they may find. Including your voter ID # and birthday are also optional, but can help workers be sure they know who you are and send you the right ballot. If your handwriting is messy, even just having a printed return-address label on the envelope can help.
If you are voting by mail because you will be out of the county, you must provide an address that is out of the county or the application will be rejected (by law in Texas). This sounds easy, but some people have a local PO address that forwards their mail, or they don't know which address to provide because they will be several places during the voting period. You may have a trusted friend outside the county to whom you can have your ballot mailed, and they can forward it to you. Edited 9/24/20 to add: The Post Office is not allowed to forward ballots!
You must choose one of the reasons shown. (Unless they can tell that you are over 65 or your mail-to address is outside the county.) Any extra boxes you create yourself will be rejected. Extra writing will not help your case; just check the appropriate box (multiple boxes are okay).
FYI, the main reason applications are rejected is when a voter already has an application on file that is still in effect, so the new one is a duplicate. "Annual" applications include all elections for the entire year. Edited 9/24/20 to add that other reasons include:
* The application is not signed (they will compare your signature on the envelope holding your ballot to the signature on your application).
* You have not selected one of the supplied reasons for voting by mail (and have not provided a birthday indicating that you will be 65+ on election day and have not provided and out-of-county mailing address)
* You are not registered to vote, or your voter registration is not current.
* The post office has lost your application or damaged it so thoroughly that there is not enough information left. (When possible, you will be contacted.)
And if your address has changed, you will be required to fill out a change of address form (called a "Statement of Residence" or SOR) and submit it with your ballot.
Ballot
The ballot must be received on time--send it asap. You must use the envelope provided, so elections staff knows who is voting (your name is not on your secret ballot). The envelope must be signed across the back over the seal of the envelope flap. Use your usual signature--now is not the time for creativity (like airports are not the place for certain kinds of humor).
Timing
The ballot must be received by election day OR postmarked by election day and received by the following day. (Voters outside the country have a bit more time.) So this is not like your taxes where they care only about the postmark. They need an official count by a certain day, so they need to have received your ballot by a certain day.
Working at the last election, I noticed the following things:
1) Mail is not always delivered in a timely fashion.
2) Mail is not always delivered undamaged (though this was more a problem for the applications than for the ballots).
3) Not all mail is postmarked, especially when the postal workers are rushing to deliver ballots (which are in distinctive envelopes). (In our county, a determination was made that any mail received in the morning mail the day after the election could not have been sent after election day and therefore could be considered valid, even if there was no postmark. We had to ask them to do this.)
The post office recommends you mail your ballot at least one week before the deadline (see How long will it take for your mail-in ballot to be delivered on time? We tested it).
Craziness
Of course voting in person during a pandemic is a bit crazy. But in this last election, there was social distancing, mask wearing, ways for you to scan your own ID so no one else touches it, and plexiglass between voters and poll workers. So early voting may not be that crazy for those who can do it.
Voting by mail will also be crazy. A lot more people than usual are going to do it (our last primary runoff broke some records, so a full general election may stress the system).
In addition our president and many of his supporters do not want us to vote by mail, even though they do so themselves. Eliminating overtime pay in the US Postal Service has led to delays (see House Panel Calls New Postal Chief to Explain Mail Delays).
So give everything as much time as you can. You can register right now and you can apply for a ballot right now (and as early as January 1 each year).
Running out of time?
If you don't even get your ballot in time to mail it back in a timely fashion, you have options:
1) Vote in person. Bring your ballot with you if possible so you can "surrender" it (and they can cancel it). If you don't have it yet, there will be paperwork.
2) Or bring your ballot by hand to the post office that delivers directly to the county's elections office (for Travis County, that's the one at 8225 Cross Park Drive, Austin, TX 78710-9998). This will save at least one day of processing as all elections mail goes through that post office.
3) Or you can deliver your signed, sealed ballot in person to the elections office. The building is locked, so you'll talk to someone at the front door and either wait in line outside or ask for curbside service and they will tell you where to park. This will require additional paperwork as well, but the elections staff will have everything needed. Previously, you could do this only on the day of the election (7 am to 7 pm). But per the governor's 7/27/20 proclamation, such delivery is now also allowed "prior to as well as on Election Day."No clue how much prior or whether they will be accepted outside an 8-5 time window. But I will reiterate, there are no drop boxes.
Updated 8/20/20 to add that per The Elections Clerk, in addition to that election day drop-off option, there will be three drive-through locations (yet to be determined, but in downtown because by law they have to be in places where the election clerk's business offices are located). See Travis County's list of locations and times. These will be available any time after you receive your ballot, Monday - Friday from 8 am to 5 pm, even if early voting hasn't started. Once early voting starts (October 13), those hours will be extended to Monday - Saturday, 7 am to 7 pm Sunday 12 noon to 6 pm. It's still 7 - 7 on election day. You will still need your ID and to sign a form and to drop your ballot (in its envelope) into a provided ballot box.
Also updated 8/20/20 to add that drop boxes for elections are illegal in Texas. Apparently if you put your ballot in some other drop box (like for property taxes), your ballot must be rejected by law.
Per How long will it take for your mail-in ballot to be delivered on time? We tested it), 3% of ballots received in the last election arrived too late to be counted. That is horrifying, but I suspect that some of those people got worried and voted in person as well and so were not disenfranchised.
I just learned from NBC's State-by-State Voting Guide that Texans can track their ballots, so it looks like you don't need to wonder if it got there in time. If it looks like it's taking too long, you have the option to vote in person. Updated 9/24/20 to say that's only for uniformed service members. Yeesh.
I'll be doing early voting, which was extended by the governor's 7/27/20 proclamation so that it starts on Tuesday, October 13 (instead of October 19). I've heard that the busiest days of early voting are the first day and the last two days, so if you can, try a different day.
Edited to add US Representative Lloyd Doggett's Guide to Voting Safely in Central Texas.
Edited to add: See also my post Voting in Person When You've Applied to Vote By Mail.
Edited to add The Atlantic's The Election That Could Break America. Terrifying, but here's what they recommend: "If you are a voter, think about voting in person after all. More than half a million postal votes were rejected in this year’s primaries, even without Trump trying to suppress them. If you are at relatively low risk for COVID-19, volunteer to work at the polls. If you know people who are open to reason, spread word that it is normal for the results to keep changing after Election Night. If you manage news coverage, anticipate extraconstitutional measures, and position reporters and crews to respond to them. If you are an election administrator, plan for contingencies you never had to imagine before. If you are a mayor, consider how to deploy your police to ward off interlopers with bad intent. If you are a law-enforcement officer, protect the freedom to vote. If you are a legislator, choose not to participate in chicanery. If you are a judge on the bench in a battleground state, refresh your acquaintance with election case law. If you have a place in the military chain of command, remember your duty to turn aside unlawful orders. If you are a civil servant, know that your country needs you more than ever to do the right thing when you’re asked to do otherwise."
You Must Apply
Before you can vote, you must register to vote and you must apply for a "ballot by mail." If you've already registered, check that you are still registered. (VUID = Voter's Unique ID#; TDL = Texas Driver License#.) If you have moved, you will need to update your address. If you've moved to another county, you will need to re-register in your new county.
Every year you must reapply to vote by mail. If you can check the "annual" box, you will need to apply only once per year, otherwise check the election you need (the "November election" is the only one left this year). Also check the "Any Resulting Runoff" box if you want to get ballots for runoffs.
Ancient Tech
You can get your ballot-by-mail application online and can even fax or e-mail it, but then you must also send it via snail mail. There are no drop-boxes.
The application is a PDF of a document meant to be printed on the front and back of cardstock with perforated adhesive tabs. When you print it on normal paper, the directions (about not removing perforated tabs and moistening to seal) make no sense. You can just put the form page in a normal envelope and mail it. Or you can print the second page, too, and just fold the whole thing in half and tape it shut to make its own envelope. If you have the state version rather than the county version I linked to, you'll have to fill in the address for your county (for Travis County, it's: Early Voting Clerk, Dana DeBeauvoir, Travis County Clerk, Elections Devision, PO Box 149325, Austin, Texas 78714-9325).
(Please remember that the form then has to be accessed by humans so they can enter your information into the system. You do not need to glue it or staple it or tape the entire edge from corner to corner with no gap for a letter opener.)
Your ballot must also be mailed.
If snail mail is ancient history to you, you may not have envelopes or stamps or even know how to deal with an envelope. It is a pain to get just one envelope or just one stamp--I recommend asking a neighbor. The side of the envelope without the flap is where you put the address, front and center. The stamp goes in the upper right corner.
I recommend including a return address (put your name and address in the upper left corner). This is optional, but the redundancy can be very helpful in case things go wrong, like partial destruction or missing postage.
Postage
Don't forget to add postage if necessary (some states pay it). With a general election, the ballot may be so thick that you need more than just a forever stamp. But don't sweat it too much because your mail-in ballot will be sent regardless if it has the right postage (the board of elections will have to pay). (FYI, I have heard of income tax returns sent back for not enough postage, so don't assume the US Postal Service is always cool with things that have important government deadlines, but in this case they are.)
Pandemic
In Texas, only certain categories of people can vote by mail, and these categories do not specifically include people in pandemics. However, you can vote by mail if you have a disability which is defined as a "sickness or physical condition" that prevents a voter from appearing in person without the risk of "injuring the voter’s health."
Although the case could still be brought to the US Supreme Court, the latest Texas Supreme Court ruling currently stands. That ruling says that:
a) not yet being immune to covid-19 doesn't count as a disability
b) the voter decides what constitutes a disability
c) "We agree, of course, that a voter can take into consideration aspects of his health and his health history that are physical conditions in deciding whether, under the circumstances, to apply to vote by mail because of disability."
So, maybe you can and maybe you can't. One thing I do know is that if you check the "disability" box, that counts. Do not write any extra information about that disability. Last I heard, if you do write something about the pandemic, they have to reject your application. Edited 9/24/20 to add: Not true, but there's still no need to explain or justify your disability.
I do not know if there will be people investigating voters who have checked the disability box for the first time this year. I have never heard of such a thing before, but who knows what can happen? It looks like having pre-existing conditions is legally defensible. (If one of your conditions that makes you at risk is being 65 or older, just check that box.)
Security
You can send multiple applications within one envelope, but not multiple ballots. Each voter mails their own ballot separately.
Your ballot will probably arrive folded roughly--but not exactly--in fourths so that the folds don't cross the black boxes on the edges that are used by the automated ballot reader. Fight your inner perfectionist and just re-fold it the same way before you send it.
The ballot comes with an envelope for you to use. You must use the included envelope which has your voter information on it (the ballot does not, because it's a secret ballot). They use the envelope to decide whether to count your vote, the same way they check your ID in person to decide whether to let you vote.
Also, you must sign across the flap of the envelope. They do not give you much room to do that what with all the writing around that area. But if there is no signature at all, or if it's clearly not the same as the signature you used on your application, your ballot may not be accepted.
When your ballot is received, they check if you have already voted in person. If so, your ballot is discarded. If not, your ballot is checked in. Then if you try to vote in person after your ballot has been checked in, you will be turned away. Edited 9/24/20 to add: Actually, I don't know what they do; I just know that when you try to check in to vote in person, a flag will appear.
Mistakes
(Edited 9/10/20 to add this section.)
Ballot Request Form
Extra contact information is optional on your ballot request form, but if you include a phone number and/or e-mail address, it's easier for elections staff to contact you in a timely manner about any mistakes they may find. Including your voter ID # and birthday are also optional, but can help workers be sure they know who you are and send you the right ballot. If your handwriting is messy, even just having a printed return-address label on the envelope can help.
If you are voting by mail because you will be out of the county, you must provide an address that is out of the county or the application will be rejected (by law in Texas). This sounds easy, but some people have a local PO address that forwards their mail, or they don't know which address to provide because they will be several places during the voting period. You may have a trusted friend outside the county to whom you can have your ballot mailed, and they can forward it to you. Edited 9/24/20 to add: The Post Office is not allowed to forward ballots!
You must choose one of the reasons shown. (Unless they can tell that you are over 65 or your mail-to address is outside the county.) Any extra boxes you create yourself will be rejected. Extra writing will not help your case; just check the appropriate box (multiple boxes are okay).
FYI, the main reason applications are rejected is when a voter already has an application on file that is still in effect, so the new one is a duplicate. "Annual" applications include all elections for the entire year. Edited 9/24/20 to add that other reasons include:
* The application is not signed (they will compare your signature on the envelope holding your ballot to the signature on your application).
* You have not selected one of the supplied reasons for voting by mail (and have not provided a birthday indicating that you will be 65+ on election day and have not provided and out-of-county mailing address)
* You are not registered to vote, or your voter registration is not current.
* The post office has lost your application or damaged it so thoroughly that there is not enough information left. (When possible, you will be contacted.)
And if your address has changed, you will be required to fill out a change of address form (called a "Statement of Residence" or SOR) and submit it with your ballot.
Ballot
The ballot must be received on time--send it asap. You must use the envelope provided, so elections staff knows who is voting (your name is not on your secret ballot). The envelope must be signed across the back over the seal of the envelope flap. Use your usual signature--now is not the time for creativity (like airports are not the place for certain kinds of humor).
Timing
The ballot must be received by election day OR postmarked by election day and received by the following day. (Voters outside the country have a bit more time.) So this is not like your taxes where they care only about the postmark. They need an official count by a certain day, so they need to have received your ballot by a certain day.
Working at the last election, I noticed the following things:
1) Mail is not always delivered in a timely fashion.
2) Mail is not always delivered undamaged (though this was more a problem for the applications than for the ballots).
3) Not all mail is postmarked, especially when the postal workers are rushing to deliver ballots (which are in distinctive envelopes). (In our county, a determination was made that any mail received in the morning mail the day after the election could not have been sent after election day and therefore could be considered valid, even if there was no postmark. We had to ask them to do this.)
The post office recommends you mail your ballot at least one week before the deadline (see How long will it take for your mail-in ballot to be delivered on time? We tested it).
Craziness
Of course voting in person during a pandemic is a bit crazy. But in this last election, there was social distancing, mask wearing, ways for you to scan your own ID so no one else touches it, and plexiglass between voters and poll workers. So early voting may not be that crazy for those who can do it.
Voting by mail will also be crazy. A lot more people than usual are going to do it (our last primary runoff broke some records, so a full general election may stress the system).
In addition our president and many of his supporters do not want us to vote by mail, even though they do so themselves. Eliminating overtime pay in the US Postal Service has led to delays (see House Panel Calls New Postal Chief to Explain Mail Delays).
So give everything as much time as you can. You can register right now and you can apply for a ballot right now (and as early as January 1 each year).
Running out of time?
If you don't even get your ballot in time to mail it back in a timely fashion, you have options:
1) Vote in person. Bring your ballot with you if possible so you can "surrender" it (and they can cancel it). If you don't have it yet, there will be paperwork.
2) Or bring your ballot by hand to the post office that delivers directly to the county's elections office (for Travis County, that's the one at 8225 Cross Park Drive, Austin, TX 78710-9998). This will save at least one day of processing as all elections mail goes through that post office.
3) Or you can deliver your signed, sealed ballot in person to the elections office. The building is locked, so you'll talk to someone at the front door and either wait in line outside or ask for curbside service and they will tell you where to park. This will require additional paperwork as well, but the elections staff will have everything needed. Previously, you could do this only on the day of the election (7 am to 7 pm). But per the governor's 7/27/20 proclamation, such delivery is now also allowed "prior to as well as on Election Day."
Updated 8/20/20 to add that per The Elections Clerk, in addition to that election day drop-off option, there will be three drive-through locations (
Also updated 8/20/20 to add that drop boxes for elections are illegal in Texas. Apparently if you put your ballot in some other drop box (like for property taxes), your ballot must be rejected by law.
Per How long will it take for your mail-in ballot to be delivered on time? We tested it), 3% of ballots received in the last election arrived too late to be counted. That is horrifying, but I suspect that some of those people got worried and voted in person as well and so were not disenfranchised.
I just learned from NBC's State-by-State Voting Guide that Texans can track their ballots
I'll be doing early voting, which was extended by the governor's 7/27/20 proclamation so that it starts on Tuesday, October 13 (instead of October 19). I've heard that the busiest days of early voting are the first day and the last two days, so if you can, try a different day.
Edited to add US Representative Lloyd Doggett's Guide to Voting Safely in Central Texas.
Edited to add: See also my post Voting in Person When You've Applied to Vote By Mail.
Edited to add The Atlantic's The Election That Could Break America. Terrifying, but here's what they recommend: "If you are a voter, think about voting in person after all. More than half a million postal votes were rejected in this year’s primaries, even without Trump trying to suppress them. If you are at relatively low risk for COVID-19, volunteer to work at the polls. If you know people who are open to reason, spread word that it is normal for the results to keep changing after Election Night. If you manage news coverage, anticipate extraconstitutional measures, and position reporters and crews to respond to them. If you are an election administrator, plan for contingencies you never had to imagine before. If you are a mayor, consider how to deploy your police to ward off interlopers with bad intent. If you are a law-enforcement officer, protect the freedom to vote. If you are a legislator, choose not to participate in chicanery. If you are a judge on the bench in a battleground state, refresh your acquaintance with election case law. If you have a place in the military chain of command, remember your duty to turn aside unlawful orders. If you are a civil servant, know that your country needs you more than ever to do the right thing when you’re asked to do otherwise."