Dallas How To Vote

Everything a voter in Dallas and Dallas County needs for the November 3, 2026 general election: who can register and how, what ID to bring, when and where to vote early, how mail ballots work, and where to find every office on the ballot with the person who holds it now.

Register or update your registration by Monday, October 5, 2026. Texas has no same-day registration and no standalone online registration, so a mailed application must be postmarked by that date.

Early voting runs Monday, October 19 through Friday, October 30. Any registered Dallas County voter can vote at any early voting vote center in the county.

Want to vote by mail? Your application must be received by Friday, October 23. The ballot must be back by 7 p.m. on Election Day (or 5 p.m. Wednesday, November 4 if the envelope is postmarked by 7 p.m. on Election Day).

Bring one of the seven accepted photo IDs. If you have none, you can still vote by signing a Reasonable Impediment Declaration at the polls.

You can register and vote in Dallas County if you are a U.S. citizen, a Dallas County resident, and will be 18 by Election Day (you can register at 17 years and 10 months). You cannot vote if a court has declared you mentally incompetent, or if you are still serving a felony sentence — including parole, probation, or community supervision.

Texas gives your vote back once you have completed the punishment phase of your sentence: any prison time, parole, supervision, or court-ordered probation all finished, or a pardon. Then you register like anyone else. If your situation is complicated, confirm with an attorney or the Dallas County Elections Department before you register.

Texas requires one of seven forms of photo ID at the polls:

• Texas driver license (DPS)
• Texas Election Identification Certificate (EIC)
• Texas personal identification card (DPS)
• Texas license to carry a handgun (DPS)
• U.S. military ID card with photo
• U.S. citizenship certificate with photo
• U.S. passport (book or card)

If you are 18 to 69, the ID can be expired up to four years and still count. If you are 70 or older, an expired ID is fine as long as it is otherwise valid.

You still vote. If you cannot reasonably get one of the seven IDs, sign a Reasonable Impediment Declaration at the vote center and show one supporting document with your name: a voter registration certificate, a current utility bill, a bank statement, a government check or paycheck, or a certified birth certificate.

Registered voters with no acceptable ID can get a free Election Identification Certificate at any Texas DPS driver license office.

The deadline is always 30 days before the election. For November 3, 2026, that is Monday, October 5, 2026. Texas has no same-day registration.

Fill out a voter registration application — pick one up at a post office, library, or the Dallas County Elections Department, or request one online and mail it in — and return it to the Dallas County Elections Department, 1520 Round Table Drive, Dallas, TX 75247, postmarked by the deadline. Volunteer deputy registrars at community events can also take your application.

If you are renewing or updating a Texas driver license or ID card online, you can register to vote or update your address in the same session. That is the only online path — Texas has no standalone online registration.

Registrations get flagged for old addresses and returned mail. If you moved, changed your name, or have not voted in a while, look yourself up before the deadline.

Texas runs open primaries: you do not register with a party. In each primary you pick one party’s ballot that day, and if you vote in one party’s primary you can only vote in that party’s runoff. If nobody in a race wins a majority, the top two go to a runoff. The November 3 general election is open to every registered voter no matter which primary, if any, you voted in. If a November race needs a runoff, it is held Saturday, December 12, 2026.

Monday, October 19 through Friday, October 30, 2026. Dallas County hours: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday both weeks and Saturday, October 24; noon to 6 p.m. Sunday, October 25. Any registered Dallas County voter can vote early at any early voting vote center in the county.

Tuesday, November 3, 2026, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Dallas County uses countywide vote centers: you can vote at any participating vote center in the county, not just one assigned to your precinct. If you are in line by 7 p.m., you get to vote.

Texas mail voting is limited to voters who are 65 or older, sick or disabled, expecting to give birth within three weeks before or after Election Day, away from Dallas County for all of early voting and Election Day, or confined in jail but otherwise eligible. Your application must be received by Friday, October 23, 2026. Put your Texas driver license, ID or EIC number — or the last four digits of your Social Security number — on both the application and the ballot envelope. The ballot must be back by 7 p.m. on Election Day, or by 5 p.m. Wednesday, November 4 if it is postmarked by 7 p.m. on Election Day.

Dates change every cycle. Confirm against the official calendar before you plan around anything printed here.

Because Dallas County uses countywide vote centers, there is no single assigned polling place to memorize — early or on Election Day, you can vote at any participating vote center. Locations can change, so check the live finder before you go.

Dallas County has posted its early voting vote centers for this election and marks the list tentative — subject to change. These are spread across the county; the full list has many more sites.

The Dallas County Elections Department is at 1520 Round Table Drive, Dallas, TX 75247 — (469) 627-8683, Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Every vote center has accessible voting equipment. If you cannot enter the building, ask for curbside voting — an election officer brings a ballot to your vehicle. You may bring someone to help you vote, as long as it is not your employer or union representative.

Your exact ballot depends on your address: congressional district, state house and senate districts, county commissioner precinct, constable and justice of the peace precinct, school district, city, and judicial districts. Dallas County voters also decide a county tax rate election ordered by the Commissioners Court, and some cities and school districts have their own bonds, tax rates or special elections on the same ballot.

Most people know the mayor and the president. The offices in between decide your property tax, your roads, who prosecutes cases, and who sits on the bench. Dallas Politics names the person in every seat.

Not on the November 2026 ballot. Dallas moved its city elections to November of odd-numbered years, so the next mayor and council election is November 2027. The Mayor (Eric Johnson, term-limited) presides over the City Council; the 14 council members represent single-member districts, set the budget and tax rate, and pass city ordinances. Council members serve two-year terms (up to four); the mayor serves four-year terms (up to two).

The County Judge (Clay Jenkins — this seat is on the November 3 ballot) presides over Commissioners Court. Four Commissioners — Theresa Daniel (District 1), Andy Sommerman (2), John Wiley Price (3), Elba Garcia (4) — set the county budget and tax rate and run county roads, the jail budget, and health services; Districts 2 and 4 are on this ballot. You also elect the District Attorney (John Creuzot, who lost the March 2026 Democratic primary; the seat is on this ballot), Sheriff (Marian Brown), County Clerk (John F. Warren; open seat on this ballot), District Clerk (Felicia Pitre), Treasurer (Pauline Medrano), Tax Assessor-Collector (John R. Ames), and constables and justices of the peace by precinct.

Dallas County elects its civil, criminal, family, juvenile, and probate district and county court judges, plus justices of the Fifth District Court of Appeals, all in partisan races for four- or six-year terms. Judicial races fill a long stretch of a Dallas County ballot.

The Governor (Greg Abbott), Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Comptroller, Land Commissioner, Agriculture Commissioner, and one Railroad Commissioner are all on the November 3 ballot, along with your State Senator and State Representative, State Board of Education seat, and Texas Supreme Court and Court of Criminal Appeals places.

Two U.S. Senators serve six-year terms; House members serve two. Every Dallas County congressional seat is on this ballot, plus one U.S. Senate seat — the one held by John Cornyn, who is serving out his term after losing the May 2026 Republican primary runoff to Ken Paxton. The statewide sample ballot lists Ken Paxton (Republican), James Talarico (Democrat) and Ted Brown (Libertarian). Ted Cruz’s seat is not up until 2030.

Dallas County Elections Department (dallascountyvotes.org, (469) 627-8683) — registration, vote centers, mail ballots, results.

VoteTexas.gov — the Secretary of State’s voter site for ID rules and statewide dates.

League of Women Voters of Dallas — nonpartisan voter guide with candidate answers in their own words (vote411.org).

VoteRiders — free help getting the ID or documents you need to vote.

Election Protection — a nonpartisan hotline if you are turned away or your ballot is challenged: 866-OUR-VOTE.

Reading list, all at the Dallas Public Library: Give Us the Ballot (Ari Berman), One Person, No Vote (Carol Anderson), Bending Toward Justice (Gary May), The Voting Booth (Brandy Colbert), and Thick (Tressie McMillan Cottom).

Verified September 2026 against the Texas Secretary of State calendar and the Dallas County Elections Department. Dates and officeholders change — the official links above always win.