What do I do if I'm registered but don't have acceptable ID to vote?
With early voting for midterm elections coming up Monday, Oct. 22, through Friday, Nov. 2, voters will need to bring an acceptable form of photo identification to show at the polls.
Texas Secretary of State Rolando Pablos has encouraged voters to cast a ballot early to avoid long lines Nov. 6 on Election Day – when an acceptable form of ID is also required.
The Lone Star State’s voter ID law went into effect Jan. 1, 2018, so those who’ve already exercised their right to vote this year probably know the drill.
Texas voters must present one of seven approved forms of photo ID at the polls, but qualifying voters who don’t possess one of them potentially have other options, according to information posted on the agency’s website.
Here are the seven acceptable forms of ID to present at the polls:
· Texas driver license issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety
· Texas election ID certificate issued by DPS
· Texas personal ID card issued by DPS
· Texas handgun license issued by DPS
· U.S. military ID card including the person’s photograph
· U.S. citizenship certificate containing the person’s photograph
· U.S. passport -- book or card
The U.S. Citizenship Certificate does not expire. But forms of acceptable ID that do expire are subject to rules surrounding their expiration dates.
IDs must be current or have expired no more than four years before presentation at the polls for voters who are 18-69, according to the TXSOS.
Voters 70 and older can use an ID listed above that has expired for any amount of time if it’s otherwise valid, according to the TXSOS.
Voters who don’t have one of those forms of approved ID and can’t reasonably obtain one can execute a Reasonable Impediment Declaration form and present a supporting form of ID, according to the TXSOS.
The declaration forms are available at each polling location, according to the TXSOS.
Poll workers are not to question voters about why they don’t have and can’t reasonably get an acceptable form of ID, according to the TXSOS.
In addition, election officials are prohibited from questioning the reasonableness of any claimed impediment, which include the following:
· Lack of transportation
· Disability or illness
· Lack of birth certificate or other documents needed to obtain acceptable form of photo ID
· Work schedule
· Family responsibilities
· Lost or stolen identification
· Acceptable form of photo ID applied for but not received
A signed declaration can only be rejected if there is conclusive evidence the person completing the form is not the same as the person in whose name the ballot is cast, according to the TXSOS.
A voter filling out the declaration must also present a copy or original of one of these supporting forms of ID:
- Government document showing the voter's name and an address, including a voter registration certificate.
- Current utility bill
- Bank statement
- Government check
- Paycheck
- Certified domestic -- from a U.S. state or territory -- birth certificate
- Document confirming birth admissible in a court of law which establishes the voter's identity and which may include a foreign birth document
The address on both an acceptable from of photo ID or a supporting form of ID does not have to match the voter’s address on a list of registered voters, according to the TXSOS.
But a poll worker may ask a voter if he still lives at the address on the list of registered voters to allow the voter to update his registration records, according to the TXSOS.
It’s important to note that during early voting, Texas voters can cast a ballot at any polling location in the county they registered in, according to the TXSOS.
Voters with questions about casting a ballot can call the TXSOS at (800) 252-VOTE.