Early Voting Starts Monday. Here Is What Is on Every Texas Ballot.

In-person early voting for the Nov. 3 general election opens Monday, Oct. 19, and runs through Friday, Oct. 30, according to Ballotpedia and The Texas Tribune. The deadline to register was Oct. 5.

Every Texas voter will see the same set of statewide races at the top of the ballot. Below that, races for Congress, the Legislature, the State Board of Education, courts and local measures depend on where you live.

The statewide races

The Secretary of State's sample ballot lists these statewide contests:

U.S. Senate: Republican Ken Paxton, Democrat James Talarico and Libertarian Ted Brown, for the seat held by John Cornyn.

Governor: Republican Greg Abbott, Democrat Gina Hinojosa and Libertarian Pat Dixon.

Lieutenant governor: Republican Dan Patrick, Democrat Vikki Goodwin and third-party candidates.

Attorney general: Republican Mayes Middleton, Democrat Nathan Johnson and Libertarian Tom Oxford.

Comptroller: Republican Don Huffines, Democrat Sarah Eckhardt and third-party candidates.

Land commissioner: Republican Dawn Buckingham, Democrat Benjamin Flores and Libertarian Neill Snider.

Agriculture commissioner: Republican Nate Sheets, Democrat Clayton Tucker and Libertarian Austin R. Kelly.

Railroad commissioner: Republican Bo French, Democrat Jon Rosenthal and Libertarian Arthur DiBianca.

Voters will also choose justices for the Texas Supreme Court, including chief justice, judges for the Court of Criminal Appeals and seats on the new 15th Court of Appeals, according to the Secretary of State's list of offices.

Congress and the Legislature

All 38 U.S. House seats are up, under a congressional map the Legislature redrew last year. All 150 Texas House seats and 16 of 31 Texas Senate seats are on the ballot. Republicans hold an 88-62 majority in the Texas House, the Tribune reports.

No statewide propositions this time

There are no statewide constitutional amendments on this ballot, Ballotpedia notes. The Legislature meets in odd-numbered years, so even-year ballots usually carry fewer amendments.

Local measures are another story. Spectrum News counted 50 local ballot measures in nine large counties alone, including school bonds, tax measures and city charter changes in Travis, Dallas, Collin, Bexar, Lubbock, Webb and others. Check your county elections office for your exact ballot. Dock Line has covered some of these local races, including the Conroe ISD trustee race and Corpus Christi's water vote.

Before you go

Texas requires one of seven forms of photo ID at the polls, according to the Secretary of State's VoteTexas.gov: a Texas driver license, Texas election identification certificate, Texas personal ID card or Texas handgun license, all issued by DPS; a U.S. military ID card with photo; a U.S. citizenship certificate with photo; or a U.S. passport book or card. Voters 18 to 69 may use an ID that expired no more than four years ago, and voters 70 and older may use one expired for any length of time if it is otherwise valid. A voter who does not have and cannot reasonably get one of those IDs may sign a Reasonable Impediment Declaration and show a supporting document, such as a utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck or voter registration certificate. Ballot order varies by county, so the names may appear in a different order than listed here.

A word on the vote

Voting is not the whole of citizenship, but it is a real part of it. Scripture tells believers to pray for those in authority and to seek the good of the place where we live. Knowing who is on your ballot before you get there, down to the judges and the railroad commissioner, is part of doing that well. The railroad commissioner, by the way, does not regulate trains. The Railroad Commission oversees the state's oil and gas industry, along with gas utilities, pipeline safety and surface coal mining, and the judges you elect will decide cases that shape Texas for years.

Read the sample ballot, pray over it, and vote.

Hero photo: Steve Rainwater via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped and resized.