Texas holds its spring uniform election on Saturday, May 1, 2027. Many cities and school districts elect their mayors, council members and school board trustees on that date. For candidates, the first dates that matter are Tuesday, January 12, 2027, the last day to register to vote or update your registration if you plan to file, and the filing period itself, which runs from Wednesday, January 13, 2027 to 5 p.m. on Friday, February 12, 2027. Applications go to the city secretary for city offices and to the secretary of the school board (or the person the board designates) for trustee seats.
Not every city and school district votes in May. Some hold their elections on Tuesday, November 2, 2027 instead, and the dates for that election are at the end of this page. Ask your city secretary or school district office which date applies to your seat before you plan anything else.
Most dates below come from the Texas Secretary of State's "Important Election Dates" page. A few are not yet on an official 2027 calendar, so we calculated them from the Texas Election Code and marked them "based on state law." Confirm each date with your filing authority. For the full process of getting on the ballot, start with our guide to running for local office in Texas.
Key dates at a glance
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| Monday, December 14, 2026 | Deadline for cities and districts to post notice of the filing period |
| Tuesday, January 12, 2027 | Last day for candidates to register to vote or update their registration |
| Wednesday, January 13, 2027 | Filing opens for an application for a place on the ballot |
| Friday, February 12, 2027, 5 p.m. | Filing deadline |
| Tuesday, February 16, 2027, 5 p.m. | Write-in declarations due (based on state law) |
| Friday, February 19, 2027, 5 p.m. | Last day to withdraw (based on state law) |
| Friday, March 5, 2027, 5 p.m. | Extended filing deadline, only for a city office with a four-year term that drew no candidates |
| Thursday, April 1, 2027 | Last day to register to vote |
| Monday, April 19 to Tuesday, April 27, 2027 | Early voting in person, as listed by the Secretary of State |
| Tuesday, April 20, 2027 | Last day for a mail ballot application to be received |
| Saturday, May 1, 2027 | Election day; polls open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. |
| May 31 to June 15, 2027 | The window for any runoff (based on state law) |
November and December 2026: before filing opens
Sunday, November 15, 2026, if you plan to text voters. Campaign Verify, the check political campaigns need before texting from a registered number, sets its cycle by request date. A request made before November 15 expires on Sunday, January 31, 2027. A request made on or after November 15 lasts until Wednesday, January 31, 2029, which covers both 2027 election dates.
Monday, December 14, 2026. Deadline for a city or district to post its notice of the filing period, which must name an email address where applications may be filed (Election Code Section 141.040). Cities and districts that can levy a tax must also post the filing requirements and deadlines for each elected office on their websites. Read these notices early, because they are where any local filing fee or petition requirement will appear.
January 2027: registration and filing open
Friday, January 1, 2027. First day voters may apply for a ballot by mail for the May election.
Tuesday, January 12, 2027. Last day for candidates planning to file for a local ballot to register to vote or update their registration. Most city and school offices require you to be a registered voter of the territory, with the registration in effect, by the filing deadline.
Wednesday, January 13, 2027. Filing opens. An application filed before this date is void. The Secretary of State's form is Form 2-49, and it must be sworn to before a notary or another person authorized to give oaths. Our post on the Texas application for a place on the ballot walks through it line by line.
February 2027: the filing deadline
Friday, February 12, 2027, 5 p.m. Filing deadline for city and school board candidates (Election Code Sections 143.007 and 144.005, and Education Code Section 11.055). A mailed application counts only when it is received. If your city requires a filing fee or a petition, it must be filed at the same time as the application.
Tuesday, February 16, 2027, 5 p.m. (based on state law). Declarations of write-in candidacy are due, on the 74th day before election day (Election Code Section 146.054; Education Code Section 11.056). In city and school trustee races, write-in votes are counted only for candidates who filed this declaration.
Friday, February 19, 2027, 5 p.m. (based on state law). Last day to withdraw, on the 71st day before election day (Election Code Section 145.092). A withdrawal is filed with the same office as the application, using a notarized Certificate of Withdrawal or a notarized letter. This deadline does not move for weekends or holidays.
After the deadlines: unopposed races. If every candidate on a city's or district's ballot is unopposed once the filing and write-in deadlines pass, the governing body declares them elected and the election is not held (Election Code Sections 2.051 to 2.053). With single-member districts, this can apply within one district if no contested at-large race is on the ballot.
March 2027: late filings and challenges
Friday, March 5, 2027, 5 p.m. If no one filed for a city office with a four-year term by February 12, filing for that office stays open until this date (Election Code Section 143.008). This does not apply to two-year or three-year terms, or to school board seats.
Friday, March 12, 2027 (based on state law). After this date, the 50th day before the election, an application can no longer be challenged over its form, content or procedure (Election Code Section 141.034). Eligibility questions are handled separately.
April 2027: voter deadlines and early voting
Thursday, April 1, 2027. Last day to register to vote in the May 1 election. Remind supporters who have moved to update their registration before this date.
Monday, April 19 to Tuesday, April 27, 2027. Early voting in person, as listed by the Secretary of State. A 2025 law, Senate Bill 2753, ends early voting the day before election day once the Secretary of State publishes the report that puts it into effect, and no date has been set for that report. If it applies to the May election, early voting would run from Thursday, April 22 to Friday, April 30, 2027 (based on state law). Confirm dates, hours and locations with your city secretary, school district or county elections office before you announce them.
Tuesday, April 20, 2027. Last day for a voter's application for a ballot by mail to be received (not postmarked).
May 2027: election day
Saturday, May 1, 2027. Election day. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (Election Code Section 41.031). A mail ballot must arrive by 7 p.m. if its envelope is not postmarked.
Monday, May 3, 2027, 5 p.m. Last day for a mail ballot to arrive if it was postmarked by 7 p.m. on election day. Different deadlines apply to some overseas and military voters.
June 2027: runoffs, where required
A runoff happens only where a majority is required and no candidate receives one (Election Code Section 2.021). Otherwise the candidate with the most votes wins. A city whose council serves terms longer than two years must elect its council by majority vote (Texas Constitution, Article XI, Section 11), and some charters also require a majority. A school board uses plurality unless it adopted a majority-vote resolution at least 180 days before the election (Education Code Section 11.057).
The runoff is held on a Saturday the Secretary of State designates, 30 to 45 days after the main election (Election Code Section 2.025). For May 1, 2027, that window runs from Monday, May 31 to Tuesday, June 15, 2027 (based on state law). The 2027 runoff date had not been announced when this page was written.
If your city or district votes on November 2, 2027
The Secretary of State lists these dates for local entities voting on Tuesday, November 2, 2027, and notes that they are subject to change from the 2027 legislative session:
- Friday, July 16, 2027: last day for candidates to register to vote or update their registration.
- Saturday, July 17 to Monday, August 16, 2027, 5 p.m.: filing period.
- Monday, October 4, 2027: last day to register to vote.
- Thursday, October 21 to Monday, November 1, 2027: early voting, under Senate Bill 2753.
- Friday, October 22, 2027: last day for a mail ballot application to be received.
Set up texting before early voting opens
Set up texting in December or January, before the busy weeks at the doors.
- Check your committee filing before you request Campaign Verify. Campaign Verify costs $95 per two-year cycle. It is open to 527 committees (527 is the federal tax status of a political committee) with an EIN (the committee's federal tax ID number) and a filing with an election authority that is published online. Candidates with no committee are not eligible. Confirm that your filing can be viewed online before you request, and contact Campaign Verify Support if it cannot. Campaign Verify decides eligibility.
- Open your CampaignCNX+ account. CampaignCNX+ files your registration with the carriers (the mobile phone companies), either as 10DLC (the registration for texting from a standard local-style number) or as toll-free. You buy the $95 Campaign Verify token from Campaign Verify, and CampaignCNX+ files it with your registration. 100 free SMS included. Your number is $5 a month.
- Schedule your reminders. Write short texts for the voter registration deadline (April 1), the first day of early voting and election day (May 1). Send them only to supporters who agreed in writing to receive your texts, and end each person's first message with "Reply STOP to opt out." Texts send only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the recipient's time zone.
Our campaign plan to the May 1, 2027 Texas election turns these dates into a weekly schedule. For texting rules that apply in every state, see our political texting guide.
Put the dates on your calendar now
The filing period is one month long. Mark January 12, January 13 and February 12 today, and confirm your seat and election date with your city secretary or school district. When your committee filing is in place, start a CampaignCNX+ trial.
