Texas Voter Registration Certificates For 2018

by Michael Handley

Pursuant to Texas state election law, new Voter Registration Certificates are mailed to all "Active Status" registered voters in December of odd numbered years. “Suspense Status” voters do not receive a new certificate.

New yellow color certificates were printed by the election registrar office of each Texas county and mailed between November 15th and December 5th. Voters whose renewal certificates are returned to the registrar as undelivered will be placed in "suspense" by January 2, 2018, following the mailing.

The certificates are valid for two years beginning January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2019.

Certificates must list jurisdictional numbers for seven designated territorial units: Congressional & State Legislative Districts, County Commissioners’, Justice of the Peace precincts and the City and School District precincts, if defined. In addition to the aforementioned, counties may include 3 additional districts for a total of ten jurisdiction.

You MUST be registered to vote in the county in which you currently reside, and have a currently dated government issued photo I.D., to vote in any Texas election. You must be registered, or have mailed your registration application to be postmarked, no later than midnight of the thirtieth day before the election date. And, as of the date of this article, you are still required to present photo I.D. at the polling place to vote in person. The last day to register to vote in any election is the 30th day before Election Day.

Every registered Texas voter should have received their new 2018-19 yellow Voter Registration Card (VRC) by the first part of January 2018, or within thirty days after you submitted your registration application. If you asked to register to vote while updating your driver's license with the Texas DPS, and you never received a VRC, your registration application may not have been processed.

If you have not received a new VRC, you may NOT be properly registered to vote. You should immediately check your registration status and take action to properly register, if you find you are not registered to vote in the county where you reside.

To check your Collin Co. registration status - click here. To check your registration status in another Texas county - click here. If you find you are not registered to vote, you can find the Voter's Registration application for Collin Co. by clicking here or any county by clicking here. For specific information about voting in Texas, click here to find the Secretary of State’s pamphlet on Texas Voting.
Description of some of the fields on the Collin Co. Voter Registration Card:

1. VUID – This is your 10-digit statewide Voter Unique Identification Number issued by the Secretary of State’s office. This number remains the same as long as you are a registered voter in the State of Texas regardless of the County in which you reside or if you move from one County in Texas to another.
2. Prec. No. – Your precinct is based upon your residence address and determines your election ballot style.
3. Valid from January 1, 2012 thru December 31, 2013. Upon expiration, new certificates are automatically mailed to voters with active registrations.
4. Name and Permanent Residence Address – Your name and address of residence as provided when you registered to vote. Your election precinct (polling place) is based upon this address.
5. X signature line. The "fine print" below the signature line says, "VOTER MUST PERSONALLY SIGN HIS/HER NAME IMMEDIATELY UPON RECEIPT, IF ABLE."
6. Party Affiliation ________ ; Texas is an open primary state, which means, Texas voters do not register with a party when they register to vote. At the time they cast a primary election ballot, they may choose which party primary ballot to cast, and sign a pledge declaring they will not vote in another party's primary, primary runoff or convention for the next two years. The party choice is then be stamped in this space on your registration card. For that two year period, voters may switch arty affiliation by completing and signing an affiliation pledge with another party, at that party's county office.  This also helps ensure you will receive a ballot from the same party should a runoff election be required. If you did not vote in the initial primary, but would like to vote in a subsequent runoff, you will be able to make your party selection at that time. You must vote in a party's primary election to qualify to attend that party's senatorial district / county and state conventions. You will present your stamped registration card when you check in for the precinct convention as proof that you did vote in the primary election.
7. Various Election Districts
   • CONGRESS - U.S. House of Representative District Number
   • STATE SEN. - Texas Legislature - State Senate District Number
   • STATE REP. - Texas Legislature - State House of Representatives District Number
   • COM - Collin County Commissioners Court Precinct
   • JP - Justice of the Peace District
   • CITY - City
   • CITY DIST. - City District Subdivision
   • ISD - Independent School District
   • ISD DIST. - Independent School District Subdivision
   • SBOE - State Board of Education
8. Cert No. - This is your Collin County Voter Unique Identification Number.
9. BARCODE – This is the Collin Co. voter registration number which can be electronically scanned by poll workers at a polling location to check-in voters. Please DO NOT cut the bar code off of the card!!
10. Mailing Address – Just below the Bar Code is your Mailing Address provided by you indicating where you wish to receive your mail. This address is not used in determining your precincts or in which races you will be eligible to vote.

Women may notice all their former surnames are listed on their voter registration cards. This is pursuant to Texas Election Code provisions (sections 15.001 and 13.002 of the Texas Election Code) saying all former surnames must be included. Some may be concerned this has something to do with the newer voter I.D. law and that their name won't match their photo id I.D. In fact, this this has nothing to do with the new voter I.D. law.  (Texas Secretary of State Election Advisory No. 2013-08)

Check how your name appears in the white mailing address box in the lower right quadrant of your new yellow 2018-19 voter registration card. This is the name that appears on the official voter roll - and that will be the name listed on polling place poll books.

The name that appears to the left side of the card - in the area above the X signature line - may have former names jumbled in with your current name. This jumble of names may or may NOT exactly match the name that appears on the official registered voter roll, but some combination of the current and former names printed on the new VRC's probably will match the name listed in the poll book at the polling place.

The listed former names shouldn’t negatively affect your ability to vote, and it probably will not change the number of people required to complete the name affidavit form, because the name on their I.D. doesn't match character for character the name listed in the poll book.

If you’d still like to change how your name appears on your 2018-19 registration card, follow these steps:

If you would like your former name(s) removed from your VRC, submit a name change leaving the “former last name” box blank. That, I think, will update the registration record to reflect that you no longer wish to have former name(s) listed. A new voter registration certificate will be sent within 30 days. The former name will still appear in the county’s history records as required by law. There are three ways to submit a name change:

1. Complete a name change online.
2. Correct the information in the space provided on the back of the orange certificate and return mail it to your county election authority;
3. Submit a corrected voter registration application with the “change” box selected in person at the office or your county election authority, or by mail at County Voter Registrar. Voter registration cards are often available at local public libraries. (Tx SOS Registration Page)

 If you never received a yellow 2018-2019 Voter's Registration Card in the mail, you possibly are not registered to vote because:

• You checked the "Register to Vote" box when you changed or renewed your Texas Driver's License, but never completed the voter application process.
• You have moved and you have not voted in an election in the County during the past two years, your voter registration record may have been suspended or even canceled. You must contact the Registrar's office and update your registration information every time you move. To find the change of address information click here.
• You have not moved, but mail sent to your address by the county Election Registrar's Office was for some reason return to the Registrar's office as undeliverable mail, then the Registrar will think you have moved and the Registrar will "suspend" and eventually cancel your voter registration. Why does this happen? The most typical reason is if your mail was being held at the post office while you were on vacation and the Registrar's office sent mail to you (e.g. a new voter registration card or other voting information mailing) during period your mail was held at the post office, then the Registrar's mailing would have been returned to the Registrar's office as undeliverable mail. This returned mail marked as undeliverable causes the Registrar t think you have moved and your registration recorded will be suspended for two years and then canceled.

If your voter registration record has been suspended or canceled, or you have never registered to vote in the county where you live you must take action to be properly registered as an "active voter" 30 days before the next election in order to vote in that election. Voter Registration Applications must be post marked on or before the 30th day before election day in order for you to be properly registered to vote in the election. It is always good practice to check your registration status at least 45 day before every election by going to the Registrar's website. Have you ever registered to vote? In general, you are eligible to vote in county where you reside if you are a United States Citizen, a resident of the county, will be 18 years old before election day, are not a convicted felon and have not been declared mentally incapacitated.

Please remember to take your Voter Registration Card with you to the polling place when you vote.

Texas Sec. of State' Voter I.D. information webpage - click here.