Voting can be hard in Texas, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible

As the 2026 midterm elections quickly approach, Texans must be prepared to cast their ballots. Nowhere is this more important than Texas, a state embattled in court cases for what critics allege are discriminatory laws designed to suppress minority voices. Their allegations are not without merit, however. Voters in nearby Dallas and Williamson counties were left confused after last minute changes rendered it impossible to cast their ballots during the 2026 primaries. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, Dallas and Williamson County Republican Party chairs moved the primaries from countywide polling places to precinct-based polling locations only months before the primaries. This change was, allegedly, not disseminated in time, resulting in countywide confusion. When events like this occur, it is typically minority voices that become silenced, making it especially relevant to the minority-majority community of Southwest Houston—particularly if such policies happen in Alief.

After the Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 1 (87th Session, 2nd Special Session) in 2021  in response to record voter turnout in 2020, the 2022 primaries saw efforts that make it harder to vote—especially for mail-in voters. According to a Bloomberg analysis, 12% of mail-in ballots were rejected in Texas for the 2022 primaries, in comparison to the 1% of mail-in ballots that were rejected for the 2020 general election nationwide. This came as a result of Texas requiring those voting by mail to write the driver’s license number or last four social security digits they registered to vote with on the ballot itself, along with the envelope. However, many have either long forgotten which number between the two they registered to vote with, leading to one of the highest rejection rates in the country. For instance, if a voter had written down the last four digits of their  SSN on their mail-in ballot, but wrote their Texas ID on their voter registration form, their ballot was rejected. This will continue, as just recently, on August 12th, the United States Fifth Circuit of Appeals reaffirmed the State of Texas’ right to ask voters for this ID on their mail-in ballots. Because these policies will continue, it could not be more important that voters understand what they need to do. To begin, to vote by mail, voters need to meet one of the following criteria: Be 65 years old, on or before Election Day; sick or disabled, expect to give birth within three weeks before or after Election Day; will be out of county beginning from the early voting period all the way to Election Day; or in jail, but eligible to vote.

If voters meet one of the criteria listed above, voters can request an application be sent to them by calling their Election Clerk (for Alief’s case, the Harris County Clerk's Elections Office). Once the application arrives, voters must ensure to include one of the aforementioned forms of ID. According to the Elections Department at the Harris County Clerk’s Office, voters are allowed to provide both their Driver's License/Personal ID and SSN in their applications to avoid their application being rejected. Importantly, to vote in the November midterms, applications must be received by the Early Voting Clerk by Friday, October 23rd, 2026. To submit a mail-in ballot, however, ballots must be dropped off at the Harris County Clerk’s Office Elections Department headquarters, 1019 Congress St, Houston, TX 77002, on Election Day from 7 AM to 7 PM or be postmarked to the office by 7 PM on Election Day and received by 5 PM the next business day.

Texas has one of the most, if not the most, difficult voter registration processes in the country. In fact, Texas is one of only 8 states that does not support online voter registration. This method is so effective that it has been proven to encourage voting among young people by up to 10%. First-time voters in Texas are, instead, required to mail voter registration forms, costing time and money. Fortunately, voters can request a free Postage-Paid Voter Registration Form be sent to their address by the Texas Secretary of State to get around the cost of voting. In addition to a difficult voter registration process, Texas has one of the earliest deadlines to register to vote, 30 days before Election Day, to be exact. Meanwhile, 21 states offer Same-Day voting, meaning voters can vote on the same day that they register, even on Election Day. Texas voters may not be afforded the luxury of same-day voting, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to vote—the best thing Texas voters can do is make a plan to vote. 

However concerted the efforts of state officials are in restricting access to the ballot box, the simplest reason voters don’t vote is because they just don’t want to. Of course, voters’ disinterest and disillusion in fulfilling their civic duty is rooted in policy, but it seems that many residents of Southwest Houston have still yielded in having their voices heard. Voters of all walks of life have come to feel that voting is ineffective—it’s easy to feel that way, of course, considering the effects of district lines changing and the broader political climate. Alief, your vote counts—and yes, it may be difficult to vote, but don’t let that discourage you. 

Alief voters can and must remember one thing, though: If they don’t want you to vote, it must mean your vote is worth something. Voter registration ends on October 5th for the November 3rd election this midterm cycle.