It’s Election Day in Texas. Here’s what we will — and won’t — know about results tonight
Texas is rapidly growing, adding nearly 4 million new residents over the past decade. And its demographics are changing, becoming younger and more diverse. But the question on everyone’s minds is whether that will shake up nearly three decades of GOP power. That will be determined on Tuesday night, after voters cast their midterm election ballots.
In Dallas-Fort Worth, Democrats typically dominate Dallas County while Republicans dominate Collin and Denton counties. Tarrant County, however, has been a toss-up in recent elections.
A majority of Texans tend to vote early. By Nov. 4, about 5.5 million Texans voted by mail through an absentee ballot or in person at an early voting location, which is 31% of the state’s registered voters. That’s down from 40% of registered voters who voted early during the last midterm election in 2018.
On Election Day, polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Here’s what to expect on election night in Texas.
How does Texas count ballots?
Elections in Texas are run at the county level in all 254 Texas counties, with a total 5,879 polling locations. County election officials then report the results in each of those elections to the Texas Secretary of State’s office, which displays them on the SOS Election Night Returns portal.
Once the polls close at 7 p.m., counties first begin reporting early vote totals. Once all early vote totals are in, including both in-person early votes and mail-in ballots cast before Election Day, counties then begin reporting results from Election Day. Absentee ballots postmarked by Election Day have until 5 p.m. Wednesday to arrive, and mail ballots from military voters and U.S. citizens overseas should arrive by Monday, Nov. 14.
Results reported to the Texas Secretary of State on election night are refreshed every five minutes until election results in 100% of precincts in all 254 counties have been reported to the office.
Counties are required to report full unofficial results within 24 hours of polls closing.
Within 72 hours of the polls closing, each election office must begin conducting a partial manual count to ensure the votes were tabulated accurately, using votes from 1% of precincts or three precincts, whichever is greater.
That count must be completed by the 21st day after Election Day.
Under 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 once all votes have been counted. Each county is required to post the completed form on its website, along with election returns and results.
The preliminary election reconciliation for unofficial totals shows how many ballots were cast, how many people signed in at the polling place and how many mail-in ballots were accepted or pending.
Then, after the county has completed its official canvass of votes (which typically occurs 10-14 days after Election Day), county election officials must complete and publicly post their final election reconciliation for official totals, which states the number of check-ins and counted ballots throughout early voting and on Election Day, mail ballots accepted, rejected, not returned or surrendered and provisional ballots submitted, counted and rejected.
That includes mail-in ballots from military members and overseas citizens, as well as voters who corrected a defect on a mail-in ballot or provisional ballot.
How long does ballot counting take?
Most of the votes are typically counted within 4 to 5 hours of polls closing across the state, with remaining votes verified over the following days, according to the Associated Press. In the 2020 election, more than half of all votes were counted within 75 minutes of polls closing. Officials expect the pace of reporting to be similar to that of 2020, per a report from the New York Times.
Ballot counting in Texas usually doesn’t take long because so much of the state votes early. In the 2020 election, a record 87% of ballots were cast during the early voting period. It’s also because counties with 100,000 or more residents are allowed to start tallying early votes once the early voting period ends. But the results cannot be announced until after the polls close on Election Day. Counties with smaller populations start counting when polls open on Election Day.
When will election results be announced?
Unless a race is too close to call, most winners are determined by 1 a.m. CST.
As soon as polls close, the Star-Telegram will be monitoring the Election Night Returns portal for results on election night. Our regularly updated reporting will cover the latest developments and numbers in county and state races, as well as a number of federal and local races.
The Star-Telegram will let readers know when a candidate has declared victory or offered a concession, and when the AP has called a race. The Associated Press will make calls on races after 8 p.m. CST. The AP will declare winners in 174 contested elections in Texas, including seven statewide races, most notably for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general, and 38 U.S. House races.
When do recounts happen in Texas?
Recounts are mandatory in Texas when there is a tie. A recount can also be requested and paid for by the loser when the difference between candidates is less than 10% of the winning candidate’s vote or if the total votes in a race are less than 1,000 among all candidates.
How to track your mail ballot
To track the status of your mail-in ballot, use the Secretary of State’s Ballot by Mail Tracker app, available through txballot.org. Enter your voter information into the fields provided, including your name, the last four digits of your social security, your driver’s license number and your address. Another way to track your ballot in Tarrant County is through the Voter Lookup. Once you plug in your information, it’ll tell you whether your ballot has been received and approved.
Here are the key terms you should know
During the post-election period, you may hear certain terms related to the processing and counting of ballots. Below is a list of post-election terms and definitions from Democracy Docket.
Counting Ballots: The initial counting of the ballots that starts before Election Day (in some counties) and continues on election night. This includes counting in-person, absentee and early voting ballots.
Informal Results: The election results announced on election night and in the days immediately following Election Day.
Certified Results: The election results as certified by local and state election officials.
Recounting: The re-examination and re-tabulation of the ballots to confirm the certified results are accurate.
Final Results: The count of ballots that is confirmed at the conclusion of the certification process.
Contesting Results: Where a candidate refuses to accept the final results and initiates a contest to the validity of the election and recount.
Vote Margin: The percentage difference between the share of votes counted for the leading candidate and the share of votes cast for the second-place candidate.
Vote Differential: The raw vote total difference between the number of votes counted for the leading candidate and the number of votes counted for the second-place candidate.
The Count: The precise number of votes for each candidate in a given race based on a unified ballot counting process that tracks all counted and cast-but-yet-to-be-counted ballots.
The Canvass: The process where local election officials confirm results by reviewing the informal results reported on election night and in the days following Election Day. Election officials will also add any outstanding ballots that have been deemed eligible for counting during the canvass, including provisional ballots where voters confirmed their eligibility or mail-in ballots that arrived after Election Day but by the state deadline.
Recount: The process where ballots are re-tabulated to confirm the certified results.
Contest: A legal proceeding in state court or a legislative chamber where a candidate challenges the validity of the election.
