Texas Election Preview: November 2025

On Tuesday, Nov. 4, Texans will head to the polls for an election that, while not featuring statewide executive offices, carries major consequences for public schools and communities. The ballot includes 17 proposed constitutional amendments, as well as numerous local races for mayor, city council, school board, and bond measures.

For educators and families, these contests are critical moments when decisions about funding, governance, and accountability for public education are directly shaped.

Members should keep in mind several important deadlines.

• Oct. 6: the last day to register to vote
• Oct. 20-31: early voting period, offering nearly two weeks to cast a ballot before Election Day
• Oct. 24: the deadline to apply for a mail-in ballot for those who qualify to vote by mail (Texans aged 65 and older, those with a disability, and other eligible voters)

If voting by mail, ballots must be received, not just postmarked, by Election Day to count.

Voting by mail continues to be shaped by Senate Bill 1 (2021), the legislation that imposed new identification requirements and led to higher rejection rates of mail ballots in recent elections. Under the law, voters must provide an accepted ID number (such as a driver's license or the last four digits of their Social Security number) on both the application and the return envelope. This summer, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld those requirements, reversing lower-court rulings that had struck them down. That means strict rules remain in effect, and ballots with mismatched or missing ID information risk being rejected.

Texas AFT encourages all members to take time now to verify voter registration, learn what will appear on their local ballot, and carefully follow vote-by-mail instructions if eligible.

AFT members are involved in important school board races in Aldine, Houston, Cy-Fair and key bond and VATRE fights in Socorro and Brownsville. Members are knocking on doors, making phone calls, and writing letters to their fellow union members urging them to go vote.

With constitutional amendments and school board elections at stake, turnout this fall will play a decisive role in shaping the future of Texas public education.