Election Code › Title 7 › Chapter 82

Texas Election Code § 82.004

Confinement in Jail

Eligibility for Early Voting

(a) A qualified voter is eligible for early voting by mail if, at the time the voter's early voting ballot application is submitted, the voter is confined in jail:

(1) serving a misdemeanor sentence for a term that ends on or after election day;

(2) pending trial after denial of bail;

(3) without bail pending an appeal of a felony conviction; or

(4) pending trial or appeal on a bailable offense for which release on bail before election day is unlikely.

(b) A voter confined in jail who is eligible for early voting is not entitled to vote by personal appearance unless the authority in charge of the jail, in the authority's discretion, permits the voter to do so.

Official text of the Texas Election Code as published by the Texas Legislative Council.

Official source
Legislative history

Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 211, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1986. Amended by Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 472, Sec. 19, eff. Sept. 1, 1987; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 554, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1991. Renumbered from Election Code Sec. 82.005 and amended by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 203, Sec. 1.02; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 864, Sec. 70, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.