MCLENNAN COUNTY, Texas (KWTX) – The application deadline to vote by mail in Texas is quickly approaching, closing Oct. 23. But compared to the rest of the country, the Lone Star state has some of the most restrictive mail-in voting qualifications.
Texas is one of only 14 states that requires a specific, qualifying reason to vote by mail.
To qualify to vote by mail in Texas:
Voter is 65 years of age or older on Election Day.Voter is disabled or has a sickness that prevents the voter from appearing at the polling place on Election Day without a likelihood of needing personal assistance or injuring the voter’s health.Voter is expecting to give birth within 3 weeks before or after Election Day.Voter will be absent from their county during Early Voting and Election Day. Voter must provide an out-of-county mailing address for the ballot.Voter is confined in jail but eligible to vote or Involuntary Civil Commitment.
Texas also requires that eligible voters submit a mail-in voting application. Voters must submit a new application every year.
The deadline to submit that application for this Nov. 3 election cycle is Friday, Oct. 23. Check your specific county election’s website for details, but most accept the application in person, by mail, email and fax. If submitting by mail, the elections office must receive the application by Oct. 23. The postmark date does not count towards that deadline.
Once the application is received, processed, and approved, a qualifying voter will receive their ballot in the mail.
The reason for such strict regulations? Lawmakers point to voter fraud prevention, a foundational message echoed by the Trump administration. According to a 2026 research study by Pew Research Centers, those who vote in person express low confidence in the vote-by-mail system.
However, McLennan County elections administrator Jared Goldsmith says local processes for sending and receiving mail-in ballots are rigorous. He said mail-in ballots in McLennan County are processed by a bipartisan ballot board and are handled separately from ballots casted in person.
“They go through and actually look at each of the mail in ballots to make sure they actually meet the regulations of the mail-in ballot,” Goldsmith said.
Since the passage of Texas Senate Bill 1, Texas requires mail-in voters to write either their Texas driver’s license/ID number or the last four digits of their social security number on both their ballot application and the ballot envelope. While only one of those numbers is required, Goldsmith suggests writing both.
“And then of course they are going to be reviewing the signatures as well to see that it is a close match with the application,” he said.
In McLennan County, over 2,000 mail-in ballots have been counted so far.
Mail-in ballots can be mailed back to the elections office, as long as they are postmarked on or by Nov. 3. The elections office must receive the ballot by Nov. 4.
Mail-in ballots can only be dropped off in-person at an elections office on election day, along with a valid form of ID.
To track your ballot, visit the Texas Secretary of State’s ballot tracker.
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