Early Voting Begins; ID Needed to Cast a Vote

Early voting for the Nov. 5 election starts Monday across North Texas. This will be the first statewide election in which the new Texas Voter ID Law will be enforced.

All voters must show identification in order to cast a vote.

Besides a driver's license the following forms of identification will be accepted:

  • Texas ID card
  • U.S. passport
  • Texas concealed handgun license
  • U.S. military identification with a photo
  • U.S. citizenship certificate or certificate of naturalization with a photo

If voters don't have any of the above, the state will furnish a special ID card through the Texas Department of Public Safety. Voters can go to several courthouses or driver's license offices to get a valid photo ID. On Saturdays through Nov. 2, certain DPS offices will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. only to provide voter ID cards.

Voters will cast ballots involving nine proposed amendments to the Texas Constitution. One proposal would use $2 billion from the state's Rainy Day fund to finance major water infrastructure projects.

Early voting for the Nov. 5 election runs through Nov. 1.

Tarrant County Voting

There are more than 40 places to vote in Tarrant County, including 14 polling locations in Fort Worth.

A handful of election workers at the Tarrant County Elections Center arrived before dawn to get set up.

The handful of voters who showed up to vote before work used their driver's license as their form of ID.

"Generally, a lot of times I forget my voter registration card, and I end up my showing my driver's license anyway. So it's not a problem," said Kim Matthys.

"Honestly, I'll usually forget my voter registration card, so I usually just show my ID anyway when I come over here, so it doesn't matter to me," said Larry Anfin, who works down the street.

Matthys said she thinks the new statewide law will be an issue for seniors who don't drive or have use for photo ID.

"For some of the older generation that doesn't drive, I think initially it will be a transition, but once they go by DPS and get a voter ID card they'll get used to it," she said.

More: VoteTexas.gov Voter ID Information

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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