Am I Eligible?
You may apply for a mail-in ballot if you are registered to vote in Texas, and meet at least one of the following criteria:
- 65 years of age or older
- disabled, as defined by the voter. Read more.
- expect to give birth within 3 weeks of Election Day (10/18–11/28)
- will be out of the county on Election Day (11/8) and during early voting (10/24–11/4)
- will be incarcerated on Election Day and during early voting
- if you have a unique situation, or a specific question, call the Secretary of State's Elections Division at 1-800-252-8683
Travis County Clerk - Mail-in Ballots
County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir
5501 Airport Boulevard, Austin, TX 78751-1410
Or,
P.O. Box 149325, Austin 78714-9325
(512) 854-4996 FAX: (512) 854-907
Email: eBBM@traviscountytx.gov
How To Make the Request
Apply to vote by mail-in ballot by printing and completing this application, signing your name, and mailing it via USPS to your county registrar. You will need postage.
You can also have a blank application mailed to you by going here and filling in your info. This method will be fully postage paid, no need for a stamp. But caution, it takes more time to complete the process.
Note: they must review your application and approve it, then they will send your ballot through the mail. So take care of this as early as you can! Your application must be received by the registrar at least 11 days before Election Day in November.
Tips on Filling Out Your Ballot
- Do not forget to mark the election which you are applying to vote for in Section 6a OR mark "Annual Application" which will register you to get mail-in ballots sent to you for every election until December 31st of the calendar year you submitted your app.
- DO NOT mark anything in box 6b unless you are voting from outside the U.S. or are voting from prison.
- If someone helps you fill out this application, that person must complete Section 11 by themselves before mailing the app
- Remember: applications for mail in ballots must be received at least 11 days before Election Day.
Tips to Avoid Ballot Rejection
- Make sure the signature you use on your ballot matches the one on your vote-by-mail application. About a third of mail-in ballot rejections in 2018 were because of signature problems. In Texas, a committee of local election officials compares your signature on your mail-in ballot against the signature that you used on your application to vote by mail.
- They can also compare it to signatures on file with the county clerk or voter registrar that were made within the last six years.
- The state election code does not establish any legal standards for signature review, and the local election officials reviewing the ballots rarely have training in signature verification.
- You must be notified within 10 days after the election if your ballot was rejected, but state election law does not require affording you an opportunity to challenge the rejection.
- Triple-check all information on the ballot. Incorrect information may also cause your mail-in ballot to be rejected. For example, it's easy to misread the Date of Birth question and accidentally put the current date instead.
- Fill in the bubble completely. Counting machines may reject bubbles that are only partially filled in on the ballot, and there may not be time to straighten it out if your ballot is rejected.
- Your mail must be postmarked correctly. Certain types of postage will not be postmarked. Additionally, it is not guaranteed that form deposited into receptacles will be postmarked on the same day. *Postage that is postmarked: is evidence of date mailed.
*Warning! Postage that is not postmarked:
METERED MAIL: Mail on which postage is printed directly on an envelope or label by a postage machine licensed by the USPS.
PRE-CANCELED STAMP: Stamps sold through a private vendor, such as stamps.com®.
“FOREVER” STAMPS: May not be postmarked.
AUTOMATED POSTAL CENTER (APC) STAMPS: Stamps, with or without a date, purchased from machines located within USPS.
PERMIT IMPRINT: Pre-sorted mail used by bill pay services, such as online home banked.
Edc.gov