Election Day is Nov. 4, and Texans are going to be voting on 17 constitutional amendments that cover property taxes, disciplining judges and more. Early voting continues through Oct. 31.
Alicia Pierce, communications director for the Texas Secretary of State's Office, joined the Standard to discuss the rights voters have at the polls.
This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity:
Texas Standard: What is the rule in Texas about what you can and cannot wear to a polling place?
Alicia Pierce: So, Texas law prohibits electioneering 100 feet from the polling location. And so what that means is you don't want anything that is promoting or campaigning for or against – you know, it could be a proposition on your local ballot. You definitely don't want anything that explicitly says like, vote for this or don't vote for that.
But you might also try to apply some common sense, especially as Halloween is one of the days of early voting. So you might want to think carefully about, you know, do you have a costume that could be interpreted as maybe being for or against one of the ballot measures? Just something to think about.
Now, let's say that you feel like you might need some help in the polling location or inside the booth. Can you bring in a friend to help you?
Yes. You can bring in someone to help you in the polling location.
What is important to know is who you cannot bring, and that is your employer or a representative of your employer, or someone from your trade union who works for your union.
What about if you are uncomfortable or less comfortable with the English language? Are the ballots printed in different languages, and can you bring in someone who can do some translating for you, that sort of thing?
So there often are versions in alternative languages, but you can bring in someone to help you with that. And of course, with anyone who is assisting you, what you want to be clear and careful about is that they're not supposed to unduly influence you, right? Like they're supposed to conduct your wishes as the voter.
Can you bring in a cell phone?
You're not supposed to use cell phones within the room where the voting is taking place. And there's also prohibitions against recording devices within 100 feet of the polling location.
Of course, these days we all carry cell phones, right? We often have devices. So you don't want to be using those devices. I would recommend just turning it off.
In the event you get there late, is there a little bit of a cushion for remaining in line when the polls officially close at 7 p.m.?
On Election Day, polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time. And so if you get there at 6:50 and you're in line, then you are entitled to cast your ballot. So everyone who is in line as of 7 p.m. will have the opportunity to vote.
Let's say you're nearly done with the process, you've already made your selections, you're about to hit that button that says Cast My Ballot. Can you go back if you realize, oh wait, I didn't mean to vote for this?
We always like to remind people to review your ballot before you cast it. And that may be that you're casting it on a machine or you may be filling out something on paper and then putting it in a box – but before you do that, take a look, because if you see an irregularity, if you see something that maybe you pushed the wrong button or something was confusing, that can be addressed up until you cast your ballot.
But once you cast that ballot, there's nothing that can be done.
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