Do you need to get a Texas ID to vote? There is another way

Karan Shirk searched the Texas Department of Public Safety website for appointments for three months, looking for anything between Austin and San Antonio. She still gets the same automated response:

“No availability. No availability for service type: Apply for Texas ID for the first time.”

“I’m frustrated and a little angry,” Shirk told me last week, still looking for an appointment so the 18-year-old grandson he helped raise can get his first Texas ID.

Both are increasingly concerned about this issue. Nathan Shirk, who graduated from Crockett High in May, is eager to vote in the presidential election this fall. Texas requires voters to show a government-issued photo ID at the polls, but a lack of appointments at Central Texas DPS offices makes that ID nearly impossible to obtain.

It’s not like the system offers appointments that are months away. Don’t give the Shirks anything near Austin. I got the same “No Availability” response last week when I first searched for ID meetings in Austin. Expanding the search area led me to meetings in Lampasas, Killeen, or the town of Caldwell.

And while DPS encourages people to look for dates in other cities—I drove my two teenagers to New Braunfels last year to get their learner’s licenses—not all families are able to make such a trip.

“It’s very frustrating,” said Karan Shirk, a retired nurse who has volunteered on political campaigns. “It shouldn’t be that hard.”

I suspect Shirk’s situation will sound familiar to many families in Texas, a state where leaders tout jobs and economic opportunity, but then fail to make sure people can get the state ID they need to attend that economy. You need ID to get a job, drive to work, open a bank account and rent an apartment.

You also need ID to vote, but there is an alternative route to the polls for those without ID, and voting rights advocates say not enough people know about that option.

No identity? Request a “reasonable impediment” form.

Any registered voter who does not have ID may vote after completing a Statement of Reasonable Impediment form at the polling station.

Importantly, you will need to bring another form of documentation. Your voter registration certificate is ideal, but you can also bring a utility bill or pay stub with your name on it. Or, if you’ve moved to Texas and haven’t been able to get your Texas ID yet, your previous state ID will work with a “reasonable impediment” form.

“The form says there are a bunch of different options as to why you couldn’t get the proper ID, but one of them is basically, ‘We tried and we couldn’t get one in time,'” Valerie DeBill, vice president of Voter service. for the League of Women Voters of Austin, she told me.

“Not having a Texas ID or a US ID should not to be an obstacle to being able to vote” for citizens, she emphasized. “It just adds an extra step that most people aren’t aware of.”

State Rep. Erin Zwiener is among those trying to spread the word. Her Hays County district includes tens of thousands of Texas State University students, some of whom face the same challenges as Nathan Shirk in finding a date at DPS.

“I just tried the other day and couldn’t find anything closer than Seguin before January,” Zwiener told me. “I can’t tell you how terrified I was.”

She’s trying to make sure voters caught in the bind know they can still cast their ballots after filling out a “reasonable impediment” form at the polls.

“We have a systemic problem here in Central Texas” with the lack of DPS appointments, Zwiener continued. “If you can’t get a driver’s license appointment or a state ID appointment before the election and it’s months away, that is absolute a reasonable impediment to having that identification.”

Texas needs to address the DPS staffing shortage

At the same time, DPS must increase staffing to meet the demand for new IDs and renewals in Central Texas. Even though Nathan Shirk casts his vote with a “reasonable impediment” form, he still needs a state ID for other things, like participating in the workforce training program that will help him find his first workplace.

Unfortunately, the backlog looks as bad as it did in January 2023, when I visited with people lining up in the pre-dawn hours to get one of the few same-day appointments offered at the South Austin DPS office.

DPS Press Secretary Sheridan Nolen said the agency allows people to schedule appointments online up to six months in advance, and some license renewals can be done entirely online. However, we are seeing the continuing effects of the DPS understaffing.

“In the current job climate, we face challenges in finding qualified candidates to fill open positions at (driver’s license) offices across the state,” Nolen said. “Employment greatly reduces the number of appointments that offices can provide.”

Zwiener told me the staffing shortage appears to be most acute in Central Texas. She wants to see if it’s possible for the Legislature to raise wages for DPS workers in this region.

“We know that the job market in Central Texas is not the same as the job market in the rest of the state,” Zwiener said. “We know the cost of living is not the same. And if we’re going to provide services to people in this region, we have to pay enough to keep people.”

Especially when those employees are helping Texans get the IDs they can’t afford to be without.

Grumet is the Statesman’s Metro columnist. Her column, ATX in Context, contains her views. Share it by email at [email protected] or on X at @bgrumet. Find her previous work at statesman.com/opinion/columns.

If you want to vote

Texas law requires voters to show a government-issued photo ID, usually a Texas driver’s license, state ID, US passport, or military photo ID (IDs are not accepted of students). But there is an alternative way to fulfill this identification requirement by completing a Reasonable impediment declaration form at the polls. Here’s what you need to know:

You still need to bring a document. Your voter registration certificate mailed by your local voter registration office is ideal. Or you can bring any of the following: birth certificate; a recent utility bill or bank statement with your name on it; or a government check or paycheck.
Request a Statement of Reasonable Impediment form at the polling place. You will check the box that explains why you do not have a photo ID. Options include lack of transportation, lost or stolen ID, or work or family responsibilities.
You will vote a regular ballot and your vote will count. Voters who complete a Statement of Reasonable Impediment form receive a standard ballot, not a provisional ballot.
Can’t find your voter registration certificate? It’s easy to get a replacement in the mail by contacting your local voter registration office. In Travis County, call the Office of the Tax Collector and Registrar of Voters at 512-854-9473; email [email protected]; or visit the main tax office at 2433 Ridgepoint Drive to receive a replacement certificate in person. In Williamson County, call 512-943-1630 or email [email protected]. In Hays County, call 512-393-7310 or email [email protected]. In Bastrop County, call 512-581-7160 or email [email protected].
If you have difficulties at the polling place: Call or text 866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683), a hotline run by nonpartisan voting advocates, to speak with a trained volunteer who can explain the law and your options.

If you need to get a Texas ID

DPS has an online scheduling portal at public.txdpsscheduler.com, but appointments in some areas can be hard to come by or months away. Here’s what you can do:

Consider hitting the road. The scheduling portal may show you appointments in other cities, such as Pflugerville or Killeen. They may have earlier openings.
If you’re renewing, see if you can do it online. Many Texans with current IDs qualify for this easy process with no appointment required. Visit tinyurl.com/bdhuya7t for information and to check your eligibility.
Keep checking the scheduling site. People cancel and change dates all the time, which means new dates can open up.
Cancel if you can’t go. In June, 27 percent of scheduled appointments at DPS offices — 173,417 appointments statewide — ended up being no-shows. DPS urges people in this situation to cancel their appointment through the appointment portal so that another person can take advantage of that time slot.
And if all else fails: Many DPS offices offer a limited number of same-day appointments on a first-come, first-served basis, while giving others the chance to wait at the office on a waiting list that will be served by the end of that day. It’s not unusual for people to line up for same-day appointments before 5:00am. You can also check the scheduling portal each morning for new openings created by cancellations.

Do you need to get a Texas ID to vote? There is another way

No identity? Request a “reasonable impediment” form.

Texas needs to address the DPS staffing shortage

If you want to vote

By Matthew. Jr

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Do you need to get a Texas ID to vote? There is another way

No identity? Request a “reasonable impediment” form.

Texas needs to address the DPS staffing shortage

If you want to vote

By Matthew. Jr

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