Waco, Texas Public Records

Texas residents can register to vote online through the Texas Secretary of State at www.votetexas.gov, by submitting a completed voter registration application available at libraries, post offices, or the elections office, or when obtaining or renewing a driver's license. The registration deadline falls 30 days before any election. Applicants must be U.S. Citizens, Texas residents, at least 18 years old, and not a convicted felon unless their sentence including parole and probation has been completed, nor judged mentally incapacitated. Valid photo identification is required under Texas law, including a Texas driver's license, election identification certificate, U.S. Passport, military ID, or citizenship certificate with photo. The City of Waco holds municipal elections for mayor and city council typically in May of odd-numbered years under a nonpartisan ballot format. Information about city candidates, sample ballots, and local measures is available through the City Secretary's Office at www.waco-texas.com and the elections office. Residents can find their assigned polling location by entering their address at the McLennan County Elections website or through the Texas Secretary of State's voter portal at www.votetexas.gov. Early voting locations are published before each election, typically offering two weeks of early voting at multiple sites including the elections office and various public facilities. Several local school board and special district positions will also appear on ballots. Texas is a restricted absentee voting state, meaning mail-in ballots are only available to voters 65 or older, those who will be absent from the county during the entire early voting period and election day, those confined in jail but eligible to vote, or voters with disabilities or illness preventing in-person voting. Applications for mail ballots must be submitted to the elections administrator and received by the 11th day before election day. Public election records in Texas include voter registration lists, available with restrictions to campaigns and researchers, campaign finance reports filed with the Texas Ethics Commission and searchable at www.ethics.state.tx.us, candidate applications and filings maintained by elections offices, and precinct-level election results published by the county and available at the elections office and online. Voter history, which shows whether someone voted but not how they voted, is also public record, while individual ballot choices remain confidential.