Elections in Texas

From 1836 to 1845, the Republic of Texas elected its own presidents. In 1845, it was admitted to the United States as the state of Texas, and has been a participant in every presidential election since, except for 1864 and 1868. Texas did not participate in these due to its secession from the United States to join the Confederate States of America on February 1, 1861, and its status as an unreconstructed state in 1868 following the American Civil War.

Texas gubernatorial elections, as well as other state office races, are held every four years on the nationwide Election Day, which is the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. They are held on years that are even-numbered, but not multiples of four, also known as a midterm, so they do not coincide with the presidential elections. Texas Senate elections for half of the chamber are held every two years on Election Day, with all of the chamber up for election on cycles after major redistricting takes place. Texas House elections are held every two years on Election Day.

For about a hundred years, from after Reconstruction until the 1990s, the Democratic Party dominated Texas politics, making part of the Solid South. In a reversal of alignments, since the late 1960s, the Republican Party has grown more prominent. By the 1990s, it became the state's dominant political party and remains so to this day, as Democrats have not won a statewide race since the 1994 Lieutenant gubernatorial election. Texas is a majority Republican state with Republicans controlling every statewide office. Texas Republicans have majorities in the State House and Senate, an entirely Republican Texas Supreme Court, control of both Senate seats in the US Congress. Texas is America's most-populous Republican state. Many commentators had suggested that Texas is trending Democratic since 2016, however, Republicans have continued to win every statewide office, albeit by reduced margins, as it was the third-closest state Republicans won in 2020.

Texas was the first state to elect a woman governor, simultaneous to Wyoming in 1924 with the election of Miriam A. Ferguson.

In a 2020 study, Texas was ranked as the hardest state for citizens to vote in.

Voting system and methods

United States presidential election results for Texas

Year	Republican / Whig		Democratic		Third party(ies)
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2020	5,890,347	52.01%	5,259,126	46.44%	175,813	1.55%
2016	4,685,047	52.09%	3,877,868	43.12%	430,940	4.79%
2012	4,569,843	57.13%	3,308,124	41.35%	121,690	1.52%
2008	4,479,328	55.38%	3,528,633	43.63%	79,830	0.99%
2004	4,526,917	61.09%	2,832,704	38.22%	51,144	0.69%
2000	3,799,639	59.30%	2,433,746	37.98%	174,252	2.72%
1996	2,736,167	48.76%	2,459,683	43.83%	415,794	7.41%
1992	2,496,071	40.56%	2,281,815	37.08%	1,376,132	22.36%
1988	3,036,829	55.95%	2,352,748	43.35%	37,833	0.70%
1984	3,433,428	63.61%	1,949,276	36.11%	14,867	0.28%
1980	2,510,705	55.28%	1,881,147	41.42%	149,785	3.30%
1976	1,953,300	47.97%	2,082,319	51.14%	36,265	0.89%
1972	2,298,896	66.20%	1,154,291	33.24%	19,527	0.56%
1968	1,227,844	39.87%	1,266,804	41.14%	584,758	18.99%
1964	958,566	36.49%	1,663,185	63.32%	5,060	0.19%
1960	1,121,310	48.52%	1,167,567	50.52%	22,207	0.96%
1956	1,080,619	55.26%	859,958	43.98%	14,968	0.77%
1952	1,102,878	53.13%	969,228	46.69%	3,840	0.18%
1948	303,467	24.29%	824,235	65.97%	121,730	9.74%
1944	191,425	16.64%	821,605	71.42%	137,301	11.94%
1940	212,692	18.91%	909,974	80.92%	1,865	0.17%
1936	104,661	12.32%	739,952	87.08%	5,123	0.60%
1932	97,959	11.35%	760,348	88.06%	5,119	0.59%
1928	367,036	51.77%	341,032	48.10%	931	0.13%
1924	130,023	19.78%	484,605	73.70%	42,881	6.52%
1920	114,538	23.54%	288,767	59.34%	83,336	17.12%
1916	64,999	17.45%	286,514	76.92%	20,948	5.62%
1912	28,530	9.45%	219,489	72.73%	53,769	17.82%
1908	65,666	22.35%	217,302	73.97%	10,789	3.67%
1904	51,242	21.90%	167,200	71.45%	15,566	6.65%
1900	130,641	30.83%	267,432	63.12%	25,633	6.05%
1896	167,520	30.75%	370,434	68.00%	6,832	1.25%
1892	81,144	19.22%	239,148	56.65%	101,853	24.13%
1888	88,422	24.73%	234,883	65.70%	34,208	9.57%
1884	93,141	28.63%	225,309	69.26%	6,855	2.11%
1880	57,893	23.95%	156,428	64.71%	27,405	11.34%
1876	44,800	29.96%	104,755	70.04%	0	0.00%
1872	47,468	40.71%	66,546	57.07%	2,580	2.21%
1860	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	62,986	100.00%
1856	0	0.00%	31,169	66.59%	15,639	33.41%
1852	4,995	26.93%	13,552	73.07%	0	0.00%
1848	4,509	29.71%	10,668	70.29%	0	0.00%

To reduce the amount of time required to fill electoral vacancies, in special elections Texas dispenses with party primaries and instead uses a jungle primary system. Candidates of all parties (or no party) appear on the same ballot; if no single one of them receives 50 percent plus 1 vote, the two highest vote-getters also advance to a runoff irrespective of party affiliation.

Texas has two uniform election dates, the first Saturday in May, and the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

As of 2024, 99.5 percent of registered voters in Texas are in jurisdictions using voting methods with some form of auditable paper ballot, an established best practice for recounts and audits. Just 0.5 percent of Texas voters use electronic direct recording electronic machines (DREs) without a paper record of each vote.

Voting rights in Texas
Demographics
Poll taxes	Abolished 1964
Literacy tests abolished	N/A
Minimum voting age	18
Preregistration age	17 and 10 months
Felon voting status	No, unless sentence fully discharged or pardoned
Voter registration
Voter registration required	Yes
Online voter registration	No
Automatic voter registration	No
Same-day registration	No
Partisan affiliation	No
Voting process
Polling place identification requirements	Yes, 7 accepted forms of photo ID: Texas Driver License Texas Election Identification Certificate Texas Personal Identification Card Texas Handgun License 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)
In-person early-voting status	17 days prior up to 4 days before
Out-of-precinct voting status	In select counties approved by Secretary of State of Texas
Postal ballot status	Limited to those with one of 6 acceptable excuses: 65 years of age or older Sick or disabled Expecting to give birth within three weeks of Election Day Absent from the county of registration during the Early Voting period and on Election Day Civilly committed under Chapter 841 of the Texas Health and Safety Code Confined in jail, but otherwise eligible.
Permanent list postal ballot status	Apply yearly if disabled or 65+
Ballot collection status	Household member, relative, or lawful assistant
Straight-ticket device status	no
Election method	First past the post
Voter powers
Redistricting system	Computer generated districts voted on by state legislature
Prison-based redistricting	Yes
Ballot question rights	No
Recall powers	Only local offices in Home Rule cities that have included recall in their charter
Federal representation level	State level

Voting rights and voter powers

Districting

Main article: Redistricting in Texas

Procedure

Texas uses an open primary for all partisan offices. Counties have a choice between separate or joint primaries. In this system, voters may vote in either party's primary, without being affiliated with said party. Joint primaries take place at the same time and location, and voters must indicate to election staff which party primary they would like to participate in.

If there is a runoff election, voters may only participate in the runoff of the party they affiliated with in the primary. Party affiliation expires at the end of the voting year in which affiliation was established.

Elections

General

• 2024 Texas elections
• 2023 Texas elections
• 2022 Texas elections
• 2021 Texas elections
• 2020 Texas elections

Gubernatorial

• 2022 Texas gubernatorial election
• 2018 Texas gubernatorial election
• 2014 Texas gubernatorial election
• 2010 Texas gubernatorial election
• 2006 Texas gubernatorial election

Senatorial

• 2024 United States Senate election in Texas
• 2020 United States Senate election in Texas
• 2018 United States Senate election in Texas
• 2014 United States Senate election in Texas
• 2012 United States Senate election in Texas

Ballot propositions

• 2023 Texas constitutional amendment election
• 2021 Texas constitutional amendment election
• 2007 Texas constitutional amendment election
• 2005 Texas Proposition 2
• 1972 Texas Proposition 8

See also

• United States presidential elections in Texas
• Political party strength in Texas
• Women's suffrage in Texas

Further reading

• Nina Perales; Luis Figueroa; Criselda G. Rivas (2006), Voting rights in Texas, 1982-2006 (PDF), Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, OCLC 837607742
• Nick Corasaniti; Stephanie Saul; Patricia Mazzei (September 13, 2020), "Big Voting Decisions in Florida, Wisconsin, Texas: What They Mean for November", New York Times, archived from the original on September 13, 2020, Both parties are waging legal battles around the country over who gets to vote and how

External links

• Elections Division at the Texas Secretary of State official website
• Texas at Ballotpedia
• Government Documents Round Table of the American Library Association, "Texas", Voting & Elections Toolkits
• University of Texas Libraries, "Voting and Elections", Research Guides
• "League of Women Voters of Texas". (State affiliate of the U.S. League of Women Voters)
• Digital Public Library of America. Assorted materials related to Texas elections
• "State Elections Legislation Database", Ncsl.org, Washington, D.C.: National Conference of State Legislatures, State legislation related to the administration of elections introduced in 2011 through this year, 2020