Early Voting -- What to Know
- Election Day Voter Guide: Find key dates, how to check your voter status, how to find out where and when you can vote early and on Election Day, and what you'll need to bring with you to the polls.
- When is Election Day? Tuesday, Nov. 5, is Election Day. On that day, polls will be open in Texas from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. You'll be allowed to vote if you're in line by 7 p.m. on Election Day.
- Where can I vote early? Early voting runs from Monday, Oct. 21, through Friday, Nov. 1. Click here for early voting hours and locations for Collin, Dallas, Denton and Tarrant counties.
- How many people have voted early? A record number of people voted early on Monday, the first day of early voting. Click here to see daily early voting totals from Collin, Dallas, Denton and Tarrant counties and to compare them to previous years.
- Who is on the ballot? Click the links to filter races by category or county: Federal races | State races | Collin County | Dallas County | Denton County | Tarrant County
- How can I vote by mail? The deadline is coming up. Everything you need to know is here.
Early voting is underway, and according to the Texas Secretary of State, in the first two days of early voting more than 1.7 million Texans have already cast their ballots for the Nov. 5 general election.
Most ballots print and are counted without an issue. But occasionally, a voter may run into trouble if they accidentally select someone they didn't intend to on the touch screen or if their ballot somehow jams in the printer.
When those things happen, what happens next?
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If a voter needs a new ballot, the original ballot is considered "spoiled." When a ballot is spoiled, the Texas Election Code spells out exactly what's supposed to happen next.
First, the voter is entitled to receive a new ballot by returning the spoiled ballot to an election officer. However, there's a limit to how many ballots a person may receive. The Texas Election Code stipulates a voter can receive as many as two additional ballots but no more than three.
The election officer takes the spoiled ballot and notes the voter's name and ballot number in the Register of Spoiled Ballots and the Official Ballot Register. The spoiled ballot is then placed in a Secrecy Sleeve and deposited into a special ballot box dubbed Ballot Box No. 4, which is not counted.
The voter is then allowed to vote on the new ballot. Before casting their ballot in the scanner, voters are encouraged to read over their printed ballot a final time to ensure the candidates listed are the ones they selected. If there are any issues, they should notify an election official and ask for a new ballot.
