VOTE IN THE MARCH 3 TEXAS PRIMARY ELECTION. In this episode, we head back to Texas and discuss why this isn’t as off a year as you might think. Also, if you haven’t done it yet, VOTE!

References

March 3 are the primaries in Texas:

Texas Secretary of State. “March 3, 2026 Primary Election Law Calendar and May 26, 2026 Primary Runoff Election Law Calendar.” https://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/laws/advisory2025-17-mar-3-2026-primary-elec-law-cal-and-may-26-2026-primary-runoff-elec-law-cal.shtml

We had a whole episode on primaries:

https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-2szpe-1544115

It’s an election among the Republican candidates for office to decide who is going to be the Republican candidate in the general election, and then you have the Democratic candidates for office—same deal:

Drusch, Andrea. “How Does the Primary Election Work in Texas?” February 16, 2026. San Antonio Report. https://sanantonioreport.org/how-does-the-primary-election-work-in-texas/

Except Iowa:

Hull, Christopher C. “Iowa caucuses.” Updated February 1, 2024. Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/event/Iowa-caucuses

There are open primaries, blanket primaries, closed primaries:

USA.gov. “Presidential Primaries and Caucuses.” February 25, 2026. https://www.usa.gov/primaries-caucuses

Texas has been characterized as a modified open or a modified closed:

Ballotpedia. “Primary Elections in Texas.” https://ballotpedia.org/Primary_elections_in_Texas

New York has a closed primary:

Ballotpedia. “Primary Elections in New York.” https://ballotpedia.org/Primary_elections_in_New_York

Whereas in Minnesota, they have same day voter registration:

Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State. “Register on Election Day.” https://www.sos.mn.gov/elections-voting/register-to-vote/register-on-election-day/

In Texas, you have to have registered in advance:

VoteTexas.gov. “Texas Voter Registration Information.” https://www.votetexas.gov/register-to-vote/

Fact check—For the general election, you can vote for any party regardless of how you voted in the primary. However, you have to vote the same party in primary run-offs as you did in the primary. You do NOT have to vote in the primary in order to vote in a primary run-off:

Ingram, Keith. “Election Advisory N. 2020-05.” February 11, 2020. Texas Secretary of State. https://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/laws/advisory2020-05.shtml

Since Mack mentioned voter ID cards, we’d like to provide some additional information we have learned about since recording this podcast. Due to redistricting, several voter ID cards have not been issued in time for the primary election. This does not affect you if you are registered. You can still vote even without a voter ID card:

Pope, Pachatta. “Voter Registration Cards Delayed by Redistricting, But Not Needed to Vote.” February 15, 2026. KSAT. https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2026/02/16/voter-registration-cards-delayed-by-redistricting-but-not-needed-to-vote/

Things like equal protection…:

Constitution Annotated. “Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection and Other Rights.” https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/amendment-14/

…and due process still apply:

Constitution Annotated. “Amdt14.S1.3 Due Process Generally.” https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/amdt14-S1-3/ALDE_00013743/

In Texas, there was the White primaries case:

Oyez. “Smith v. Allwright.” https://www.oyez.org/cases/1940-1955/321us649

They have changed the rules about postmarks on the mail-in ballots:

Contreras, Natalia. “Postal Service Changes Mean Texas Voters Shouldn’t Wait to Mail Voter Registrations and Ballots.” January 21, 2026. VoteBeat.org. https://www.votebeat.org/texas/2026/01/21/usps-postal-service-postmark-mail-ballot-voter-registration-deadline/

If you are eligible to do a mail-in ballot in Texas:

VoteTexas.gov. “Voting by Mail Eligibility Requirements.” https://www.votetexas.gov/voting-by-mail/eligibility-requirements.html

There is a way to check if your ballot was received:

VoteTexas.gov. “Track My Ballot and Correct ID Information.” https://www.votetexas.gov/voting-by-mail/track-my-ballot.html

The Bexar County Elections Department has been very good about putting out information about the new rules:

https://www.bexar.org/1568/Elections-Department

We voted this in, that we will require certain forms of voter ID to prove that you’re a U.S. citizen:

Contreras, Natalia. “Bill Requiring Voters to Show Proof of Citizenship Clears Texas Senate.” April 1, 2025. The Texas Tribune. https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/01/texas-proof-of-citizenship-voting-senate-bill-16/

We’re not the only ones that did stuff like that (to clarify, not Florida in this case, Anne just has a low opinion of their elected officials):

Ballotpedia. “Proof of Citizenship Requirements for Voter Registration by State.” https://ballotpedia.org/Proof_of_citizenship_requirements_for_voter_registration_by_state

There are still several different forms of valid ID:

VoteTexas.gov. “Identification Requirements for Voting.” http://votetexas.gov/voting/need-id.html

There’s been a lot of news about the SAVE act:

Sweren-Becker, Eliza and Bacskai, Owen. “New SAVE Act Bills Would Still Block Millions of Americans From Voting.” Updated February 9, 2026. Brennan Center for Justice. https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/new-save-act-bills-would-still-block-millions-americans-voting

Conservative opinion leaders that have talked about repealing the Nineteenth Amendment, or saying things on Fox News like a wife should just vote the way her husband tells her to:

Padilla, Mariel; Panetta, Grace; and Barclay, Mel Leonor. “Who’s Questioning Women’s Right to Vote?” August 12, 2025. 19thNews.org. https://19thnews.org/2025/08/pete-hegseth-doug-wilson-women-voting/

Where are the cases of any kind of voter fraud:

Brennan Center for Justice. “Project: The Myth of Voter Fraud.” https://www.brennancenter.org/topics/voting-elections/vote-suppression/myth-voter-fraud

Double-check that you’re registered:

Texas.gov. “Texas Voter Registration.” https://www.texas.gov/living-in-texas/texas-voter-registration/

You can order one. (Note, this reference is for Texas. To obtain a birth certificate, you must order from the state you were born in.):

Texas Health and Human Services. “Order A Birth Certificate.” https://ovra.txapps.texas.gov/ovra/order-birth-certificate

That’s because of them fully implementing the Real ID Act:

Texas Department of Public Safety. “Federal Real ID Act.” https://www.dps.texas.gov/section/driver-license/federal-real-id-act

They don’t have badges:

Cameron, Dell and Haskins, Caroline. “FBI Warns of Criminals Posing as ICE, Urges Agents to ID Themselves.” November 4, 2025. Wired. https://www.wired.com/story/fbi-warns-of-criminals-posing-as-ice-urges-agents-to-id-themselves/

If you happen to live in a town where ICE is buying warehouses:

Sterling, Phil. “Massive San Antonio Warehouse to be Turned Into 1,500-bed ICE Processing Center.” February 13, 2026. News4SA. https://news4sanantonio.com/news/local/new...