In less than two weeks, America will once again be reinventing itself by practicing one of its civic duties: voting. This process, however, is not always straightforward, as there are multiple ways to cast a ballot and a flurry of dates to remember. As such, The Paisano has compiled a timeline of the key dates and necessary information leading up to and following the election below.

First day of early voting: Oct. 21

For those registered to vote, early voting has begun and will continue until next Friday. A map of the various polling locations can be found on the official Bexar County website. UTSA is a designated early voting site with the polling locations being held within the Bexar room in the Student Union. Early voting hours are listed below.

Oct. 21 through Oct. 25 – 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Oct. 26 – 8 a.m. to 8 a.m.

Oct. 28 – 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Oct. 28 through Nov. 1 – 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Last day to apply for a ballot by mail (received not postmarked): Oct. 25

The final day to apply for a mail-in ballot is this Friday, with the application needing to be fully mailed and inside the respective voting office, not just postmarked, by Oct. 25. The application can be found on the Texas Secretary of State website and can be printed and completed by hand. For those planning on participating in voting, they must fall into one of the four categories listed below.

65 years of age or older on Election Day

Sick or disabled

Not physically in the during Early Voting and Election Day

Confined in jail or other involuntary civic obligation but still able to vote

All mail-in ballots must be postmarked by Election Day at 7 p.m. Ballots can be tracked using the Ballot-By-Mail Status Tracker online.

Last day of early voting by personal appearance: Nov. 1

Nov. 1 is the last day of early voting in person and will have locations open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Those who have not voted prior to or on this day will have one more opportunity on election day. This does not apply to mail-in voters, who can still send in their ballots at any time until election day.

Election day: Nov. 5

Election day will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 5, the polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Bexar County will feature over 300 polling locations which can be found on the Bexar County elections departments website. UTSA is one of these sites and will host polls at the HEB Student Union Ballroom and the HEB Student Union. If the voter is physically unable to enter the polling location without assistance, calling the elections office at 210-335-8683 and informing them of the need will prompt them to notify the selected polling center and allow them to provide curbside voting services for said voter. For all in-person voting, one of seven acceptable ID forms must be present, with the full list being able to be found on VoteTexas.gov.

Following election day, the Electoral College will hold its vote on Dec. 17, and Congress will count these votes on Jan. 6. The inauguration for whichever candidate wins will be held on Jan. 20. Any additional election information can be found on the Bexar County Elections Department website at bexar.org/1568/Elections-Department.