Voting by Mail in Polk County Starts With an Application

Not everyone can vote by mail in Texas, and Polk County follows the state's four reasons: you're 65 or older, you have a disability, you'll be out of the county during the whole voting period, or you're confined in jail but still eligible to vote. If one of those fits, you request a ballot; it doesn't show up on its own.

The application has to reach the Early Voting Clerk by close of business on the 11th day before election day. You can drop it in the mail to 101 W. Mill Street, Suite 265, Livingston, or send it by fax to 936-327-6855 or by email. But a faxed or emailed application only counts if the original paper copy also arrives by mail within four business days, so the electronic version buys you a little time, not a way around the paper.

Your application needs an ID number to match you to your registration: a Texas driver's license or state ID number, or the last four of your Social Security number, depending on what you've got on file. Get the form moving early, because a ballot mailed to you and mailed back still has to make the round trip before polls close.