Election Registers (1836-1980)

The 1846 law defining the duties of the Secretary of State  includes a provision to keep a complete register of all officials appointed and elected to state, district, and county positions.

Our Texas Secretary of State Election Registers for 1837-2007  are described in detail in the online finding aid.

Republic-era Registers (1836-1846) include the following information:

• Name of the individual
• Office held
• Date of election
• Date of commissioning
• County or district
• Remarks

The first (1836-1842) of the three Republic-era volumes appears consistent with an office memorandum book, its entries lacking uniformity and, occasionally, legibility--clearly not intended as an official register; the second (1843-1846) resembles, both in physical appearance and in information recorded, the official volumes created by State government. The third register lists officials in office on May 1, 1838.

State Registers (1846-1980) include the following information:

• Name of the individual
• Post office
• Date of election
• Date confirmed
• Date appointed
• Date qualified
• Date commissioned
• Remarks

Individual volumes in this Secretary of State series contain several years of information about state or national, district, and county officers, arranged alphabetically by county.

Compiled information about primary elections was not recorded until 1956. Earlier election registers included state and county office holders. Beginning with the 1978 elections, county officials are no longer listed.

Municipal officials are recorded only in the registers maintained during the Reconstruction era (1866-1870), when all such officials were appointed by Special Order of the Fifth Military District.

Transcriptions of the information in the Republic registers for 1836-1842 and 1843-1846, except for the "Remarks," are available in Compiled Index to Elected and Appointed Officials of the Republic of Texas: 1836-1846. The listings in this book are arranged alphabetically by office holder's name. A county index lists the names of all officers from each county found in the two volumes for the period of the Republic. 

While we are unable to search or provide copies from this publication, access options include:

• View or download through the Texas Digital Archive .
• Request to view print copies on-site or contact your local library to borrow through ILL.

The election registers dating from 1837 to 1982 are available on microfilm for researchers to use in person or request through interlibrary loan (ILL). The online finding aid  lists the available records on microfilm by title, reel number, and date(s). You may want to search the page text to find specific terms or years.

To request to view or borrow a specific reel number from the finding aid, match the archives reel number to the equivalent library catalog call number using the following chart:

Archives reel number:	Library catalog call number:
3498	324.9764 EL25 FILM EL-1
3499	324.9764 EL25 FILM EL-2
3500	324.9764 EL25 FILM EL-3
3501	324.9764 EL25 FILM EL-4
3502	324.9764 EL25 FILM EL-5
3503	324.9764 EL25 FILM EL-6
3504	324.9764 EL25 FILM EL-7
3505	324.9764 EL25 FILM EL-8
3506	324.9764 EL25 FILM EL-9
3507	324.9764 EL25 FILM EL-10
3508	324.9764 EL25 FILM EL-11
3509	324.9764 EL25 FILM EL-12
3510	324.9764 EL25 FILM EL-13
3511	324.9764 EL25 FILM EL-14
3512	324.9764 EL25 FILM EL-15
3513	324.9764 EL25 FILM EL-16
3514	324.9764 EL25 FILM EL-17
3515	324.9764 EL25 FILM EL-18
3516	324.9764 EL25 FILM EL-19
3517	324.9764 EL25 FILM EL-20
3518	324.9764 EL25 FILM EL-21
3519	324.9764 EL25 FILM EL-22
3520	324.9764 EL25 FILM EL-23
3521	324.9764 EL25 FILM EL-24
3522	324.9764 EL25 FILM EL-25
3523	324.9764 EL25 FILM EL-26
3524	324.9764 EL25 FILM EL-27
3525	324.9764 EL25 FILM EL-28
3526	324.9764 EL25 FILM EL-29
3527	324.9764 EL25 FILM EL-30
3528	324.9764 EL25 FILM EL-31
3529	324.9764 EL25 FILM EL-32
3530	324.9764 EL25 FILM EL-33
3531	324.9764 EL25 FILM EL-34
3532	324.9764 EL25 FILM EL-35
3533	324.9764 EL25 FILM EL-36

In person use. To request a hold in advance of your visit, call 512-463-5455 or email ref@tsl.texas.gov with the specific reel number(s).

Interlibrary loan. If you're unable to visit us in person, your local library may submit a request on your behalf for up to five (5) microfilm reels from our collection. When requesting microfilm, please provide your library with OCLC #21926248 and the TSLAC catalog call number for the reel you wish to request. Find Texas libraries near you using our Find a Library tool.

Copies from the election registers in our holdings dated later than 1982 are not on microfilm and are available by request. Access options include:

• A price quote for reproductions of specified folders or items. See our fee schedule for pricing.
• An appointment to access archival holdings. See our Before You Visit webpage for information about appointments and registration.
• Request a search. We can only search the registers not available on microfilm. Please email ref@tsl.texas.gov and provide the name(s), elected or appointed position(s), and year(s) you wish to have searched, not to exceed five searches. A single search is defined as the checking of one name in one register. If found, staff will provide a transcription of the information by email.

Although we are unable to provide photocopies of records from this collection, patrons are welcome to print or save images from the microfilm.

Because the original ledgers are extremely fragile, we will not pull them for research needs unless the microfilm is completely illegible.

Additional sources for state and local election returns are listed in our Historical Elections research guide.

Election returns are also found in Texas Secretary of State Executive Record Books available on microfilm reel numbers 2 through 10. For a description of the collection and information about borrowing the reels, see our Executive Record Books Research guide.

Some election returns for pre-Republic voters and officials can be found in the Nacogdoches Archives on microfilm reels 23 and 24, also available online from Ancestry and Ancestry Library Edition in the database “Nacogdoches, Texas, Spanish and Mexican Government Records, 1729-1836.”  Free access to Ancestry.com Texas is available to Texas residents. See our Nacogdoches Archives guide for more information.

The Office of the Secretary of State Government Filing Section maintains information on officials required to file an oath of office with the state. You may contact the Government Filings Section directly by phone at 512-463-6334 or by email at register@sos.texas.gov.