Texas Voters on the Suspense List Can Still Vote, Officials Say, by Signing a Statement of Residence
About 1.8 million Texans are flagged on the state's voter suspense list as the final week of early voting runs - and election officials say that flag does not cancel a registration. A voter who has not moved can cast a ballot by signing a Statement of Residence at the polling place.
Texas entered the final week of early in-person voting on Monday ahead of the November 3 general election, with early voting running through Friday, October 30 - and election officials clarifying the rules for the roughly 1.8 million Texans flagged on the state's voter suspense list.
A voter is placed on the suspense list when a local registrar has reason to believe their residential address has changed, such as when an official voter registration certificate or jury summons is returned as undeliverable. State election procedures allow flagged individuals who have not moved to vote by signing a Statement of Residence at their polling location. "There are still options for you to cast a ballot in the election. Your registration still counts," said Alicia Pierce, spokesperson for the Texas Secretary of State's office.
The service facts matter in Harris County, where the first day of early voting on October 19 set a midterm record with more than 104,600 in-person voters, alongside 24,794 mail ballots received by that day. Harris County polling sites are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily through October 30, registered voters may use any designated county polling station, and line wait times are tracked on the county's interactive map.
The rolls themselves carried an administrative repair into this cycle: a software issue at the Texas Department of Public Safety created a backlog of 500,000 voter registration records dating back to October of the prior year, which state registrars addressed ahead of the early voting period. For a suspense-list voter, the practical bottom line from the Secretary of State's office is simple - go to a polling place, be ready to sign the Statement of Residence, and vote.
