As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to heavily affect Texans, large numbers of voters across the state have requested mail-in ballots and many have already sent their votes back.
Elections officials across the state had received more than 891,000 mail-in ballots by the end of Tuesday, Oct. 27, according to the Texas Secretary of State's office. That's out of the nearly 8.15 million combined votes that had been cast so far.
Early voting ends Friday and Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Voters must make sure their ballot is received by election officials no later than 7 p.m. on Nov. 3. if it's not postmarked. If it is postmarked, it must be postmarked by 7 p.m. on Nov. 3 and received no later than 5 p.m. on Nov. 4.
What happens if I don't get my mail-in ballot before Election Day?
Go to the polls, said Bruce Sherbet, Collin County's Elections Administrator.
"If a voter hasn’t received their ballot by Election Day, their only option would be to vote a provisional ballot at a polling place," Sherbet said.
If you cast a provisional ballot, the ballot board will then review it and make sure the original mailed ballot has not been cast, Sherbet said. Once they are sure the mailed-in ballot has not been counted, the ballot board will approve the provisional ballot.
But if they do receive a mailed-in ballot and count it, the board will reject the provisional ballot, he said.
The board is also required to let the voter know after the election whether or not their provisional ballot was accepted or rejected.
What if I have the ballot but worry it won't make it back in time?
The United States Postal Service generally recommends voters send back their mail-in ballots before Election Day, as a "common-sense measure." The ballot should be mailed at least one week prior to their state's deadline, according to the USPS. In Texas, that week-out date has already passed.
So what can voters do if they're worried it won't get there in time? They still have a few options.
1. They can fill out their mail-in ballot and hand-deliver it to the designated drop-off location in the voter's county.
Collin County has a "three-lane drop-off for any voter taking the drop off route," Sherbet said.
2. Voters can bring their blank mail-in ballot to the polls and exchange it there to cast a ballot in person instead.
More voters than ever before have reached out to the League of Women Voters of Dallas about mail-in ballots this election cycle, Barbara Larkin, the group's vice president of voter services, told WFAA earlier this month.
"People are showing up to our registration tables with vote-by-mail questions, which that's never really happened before," she explained.
She said it feels like there's an increased volume, particularly with more first-time vote-by-mail voters.
