Voting by Mail


Emergency Ballots due to Sickness or Physical Disability

An emergency ballot due to sickness or physical disability is available to voters who have a sudden sickness or disability that prevents them from voting in person at the polling place during the voting period. If a voter has a new sickness or physical disability that originated on or after Thursday, October 24, 2024 (the day before the last day to submit an Application for Ballot by Mail), then that voter can vote in the election with the help of a representative who can deliver the voter's emergency ballot application and balloting materials to the county on the voter's behalf.

How does the process work?

  1. Beginning Thursday, October 24, 2024, a voter may complete an Application for an Emergency Early Voting Ballot due to Sickness or Physical Disability (PDF).
    • The application requires a physician to complete a certificate stating that the voter has a sickness or physical condition that will prevent the voter from appearing at a polling place in person AND that the sickness or physical condition originated on or after Thursday, October 24, 2024 (the day before the last day to submit an Application for Ballot by Mail).
    • The voter must provide a Texas Driver’s License Number or a Texas Personal Identification Card Number or a Texas Election Identification Certificate Number. If the voter does not have one of the aforementioned numbers, the voter must provide the last 4 digits of his or her Social Security Number. If the voter has not been issued one of these required numbers, the voter must check the box that says he or she has not been issued one of the required numbers.
      • NOTE: The number provided by the voter must be associated with the voter’s registration record. If the voter does not have either number associated with his or her record, the voter cannot vote in this manner until it is added to the registration record.
  1. The voter will give the completed emergency ballot application to a person who will act as the voter’s representative who must then deliver the application in person to the Early Voting Clerk’s office.
      • To be eligible to serve as a voter’s representative, a person:
        1. Must be at least 18 years of age;
        2. Must not be employed by or related within the third degree by consanguinity or affinity, as determined under Chapter 573, Government Code, to a candidate whose name appears on the ballot; and
        3. Must not have served in the election as the representative for another applicant.
      • Contact information, including addresses, for the Early Voting Clerks is available on this website.
  2. The Early Voting Clerk will process the application and give the representative the ballot by mail materials to bring to the voter.
  3. The representative will then hand deliver the voting materials to the voter.
  4. The voter will mark their ballot, put it in the carrier envelope, provide a Texas Driver’s License Number or a Texas Personal Identification Card Number or a Texas Election Identification Certificate Number or the last four digits of their Social Security Number in the appropriate place on the envelope, and sign their name across the flap.
    • If the voter is unable to sign their name or make a mark on the carrier envelope, then the voter may use a witness. The witness must complete the required information on the witness portion of the carrier envelope
  5. The same representative who delivered the emergency ballot application to the voter must also take the ballot to the voter and deliver the carrier envelope to the Early Voting Clerk’s office when the voter has completed the voting process. The deadline for returning a marked ballot is 7:00 p.m. on Election Day.