What to Expect on Primary Election Day in Texas

AUSTIN — Tomorrow, March 1, 2022, Texas will hold the first in the nation Primary Election of the 2022 Election Cycle. Elections in Texas are run at the county level in all 254 Texas counties. This means that, with the Republican and Democratic parties holding primary elections in each county, there are 508 elections being conducted across Texas simultaneously. County election officials then report the results in each of those elections to the Texas Secretary of State's office, which serves as the host of the publicly-available Election Night Returns portal for unofficial results on Election Night.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE RESULTS AS THEY ARE REPORTED BY TEXAS COUNTIES ON ELECTION NIGHT.

ALL INFORMATION IN THE ELECTION NIGHT RETURNS PORTAL IS REPORTED BY TEXAS COUNTIES. THE TEXAS SECRETARY OF STATE'S OFFICE DOES NOT ALTER OR MODIFY THE DATA PROVIDED IN ANY WAY. LOCAL COUNTY OFFICIALS IN MANY CASES UPDATE ELECTION RESULTS ON THEIR OWN WEB SITES OR TO THE MEDIA BEFORE UPDATING THEIR RESULTS THROUGH THE TEXAS SECRETARY OF STATE'S PORTAL. DISCREPANCIES BETWEEN RESULTS ON A COUNTY ELECTION WEB SITE AND THE TEXAS SECRETARY OF STATE'S WEB SITE ARE THE RESULT OF THE COUNTY NOT YET UPDATING ITS RESULTS DATA INTO THE SOS ELECTION NIGHT RETURNS PORTAL BEFORE UPLOADING THE SAME DATA TO ITS OWN WEB SITE. UNOFFICIAL RESULTS REPORTED TO THE SOS ON ELECTION NIGHT ARE REFRESHED EVERY FIVE MINUTES UNTIL ELECTION RESULTS IN 100% OF PRECINCTS, IN BOTH PRIMARIES, IN ALL 254 COUNTIES HAVE BEEN REPORTED TO OUR OFFICE.

"More than 1.6 million Texas voters have already cast a ballot in this year's primary elections, and we encourage all eligible voters who have not yet cast a ballot to make a plan to vote on Election Day tomorrow," Texas Secretary of State John Scott said. "If you have questions about the voting process, we urge you to visit VoteTexas.gov or call the Texas Secretary of State's office at 1-800-252-VOTE to get accurate information about your options for casting a ballot."

Election Day Voting Locations

On Election Day, local party officials from the Democratic and Republican parties will be presiding over polling locations in each Texas county. If your county participates in the Countywide Polling Place Program (CWPP) – commonly referred to as ‘Vote Centers’ – you can vote at any location in your county of residence.

If your county does not participate in the CWPP, you can only vote at the voting precinct assigned to you. Your residence is located in a specific “precinct” or area within the county where you will vote on Election Day. In some cases, precincts may be combined to accommodate joint local elections.

You can find your voting precinct location by using the SOS “My Voter Portal,” which is populated with voting sites on Election Day. To view Election Day polling locations in your county, login using the 'Am I Registered?' section on the SOS My Voter Portal, and enter your Name, Date of Birth, County and ZIP code to login. Your voting precinct number (Pct. No.) is also located next to your year of birth on your voter registration certificate.

Election Day voting hours are 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. at all polling places statewide. For questions regarding polling places, always consult your County Elections Office.

What To Expect At The Polling Place

Voter ID Requirements

Under Texas law, voters who possess one of the seven acceptable forms of photo ID must present that ID at the polls when voting in person. The acceptable forms of photo ID are:

Texas Driver License issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS)
Texas Election Identification Certificate issued by DPS
Texas Personal Identification Card issued by DPS
Texas Handgun License issued by DPS
United States Military Identification Card containing the person’s photograph
United States Citizenship Certificate containing the person’s photograph
United States Passport (book or card)
Voters who do not possess and cannot reasonably obtain one of the seven approved forms of photo ID may fill out a Reasonable Impediment Declaration (RID) (PDF) at the polls and present an alternative form of ID, such as a utility bill, bank statement, government check, or a voter registration certificate.

Here is a list of the supporting forms of ID that can be presented if the voter does not possess one of the forms of acceptable photo ID and cannot reasonably obtain one:

copy or original of a government document that shows the voter’s name and an address, including the voter’s voter registration certificate;
copy of or original current utility bill;
copy of or original bank statement;
copy of or original government check;
copy of or original paycheck; or
copy of or original of (a) a certified domestic (from a U.S. state or territory) birth certificate or (b) a document confirming birth admissible in a court of law which establishes the voter’s identity (which may include a foreign birth document).
Learn more about Voter ID requirements in Texas.

The 100-Foot Marker

When you go to your polling place, you will likely notice a cone or other distance marker placed 100 feet from the entrance of the building. Inside that 100 foot mark, you are not allowed to post, use or distribute any political signs or literature relating to a candidate, political party or measure appearing on your ballot in that election.

Cell Phones and Other Devices

Under Texas law, persons are not allowed to use wireless communications devices within 100 feet of voting stations. Additionally, persons are not allowed to use mechanical or electronic devices to record sound or images within 100 feet of the voting stations.

Devices that should not be used in the polling place include:

Cell phones
Cameras
Tablet computers
Laptop computers
Sound recorders
Any other device that may communicate wirelessly, or be used to record sound or images.
PLEASE WAIT UNTIL YOU ARE 100 FEET AWAY FROM THE VOTING STATIONS AT YOUR POLLING PLACE BEFORE TAKING AN "I VOTED" SELFIE.

What can’t I wear to the polls?

In Texas, a person may not wear apparel or a similar communicative device relating to a candidate, measure, or political party appearing on the ballot in the current election, but a person may wear such apparel relating to a candidate, measure, or political party that does NOT appear on the ballot in the current election.

In other words, if you are wearing a hat, t-shirt, or button relating to a candidate, measure or political party that does not appear on the ballot in the current election, you are not violating Texas law.

However, if you are wearing apparel relating to a candidate, measure, or political party on the ballot, a presiding judge has the ability to enforce the law within the 100-foot marker outside of the polling place entrance. You may be asked to remove or cover up your apparel before entering the building.

Learn more about voting in person in Texas.

Reporting Unofficial Results on Election Night

Once the polls close at 7:00 p.m. local time, counties first begin reporting early vote totals through the SOS Election Night Returns portal. Once all early vote totals are in, which include both in-person early votes and mail-in ballots cast before Election Day, counties then begin reporting results from Election Day.

Upon entering the Election Night Returns portal, you can choose to view the results in either the Democratic or Republican primary election. Results can then be filtered by federal, statewide and district offices for which primary elections are being held, as well as by county, in order to see the results for specific races in each of Texas' 254 counties. You can also designate a 'favorite' race to monitor by clicking the star next to the office, and save the election results feed for that office in your dashboard.

All information in the SOS Election Night Returns portal is reported by Texas county election officials. The Texas Secretary of State's office does not alter or modify the data provided in any way.

In many cases, local county election officials may update election results on their own respective web sites, a list of which can be found here, before updating their results through the SOS Election Night Returns portal.

Discrepancies between the results displayed on county web sites and on the Texas Secretary of State's web site is solely the result of a county election office not yet updating its results into the SOS portal before posting the same results on their own county web site.

Unofficial results reported to the Texas Secretary of State on Election Night are refreshed every five minutes until election results in 100% of precincts, in both primaries, in all 254 counties have been reported to the Texas SOS office.

Under Section 127.131(f) of the Texas Election Code, the presiding judge of the central counting station in each county is required to provide and attest to a written reconciliation of votes and voters after all votes have been tabulated. Each county is required to post the completed form on its web site, along with election returns and results.

To view a template of the voter reconciliation form, click here.

To learn more about voting in Texas, visit www.votetexas.gov