About 300,000 Harris County voters need to confirm their addresses by Monday, Oct. 5, or face extra paperwork at the polls for the Tuesday, Nov. 3, midterm election.

That includes voters in Friendswood, Nassau Bay, Seabrook and other Clear Lake area communities within Harris County. Residents of Clear Lake Shores and parts of the area that fall in Galveston County may face the same issue through their county registrar.

Statewide, roughly 1.2 million Texans are on voter suspense lists, about 6.6% of the state's 18.7 million registered voters, Houston Public Media reported Wednesday, Sept. 2. The Texas Secretary of State's Office published county-by-county suspense voter figures in March.

Being on the suspense list does not cancel a voter's registration. The registration stays active. It means the county tried to verify a voter's address by mail and failed.

Annette Ramirez, Harris County tax assessor-collector and voter registrar, told Houston Public Media that three things trigger placement on the list: a voter registration card returned by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) as undeliverable, a jury summons returned as undeliverable, or a change-of-address notice received from the USPS.

"When we do a mass mail out of 2.7 million voter registration cards, we anticipate receiving over 100,000 of those back," Ramirez said. "So, this isn't unusual."

The Oct. 5 deadline is also the last day to register to vote in the Nov. 3 election.

How to check and fix your status

Voters can look up their registration at VoteTexas.gov using the My Voter Portal. The site lets voters update their address online. Harris County voters can also check through the Harris County Tax Office website.

Paper voter registration applications are available at Texas post offices, libraries, Department of Public Safety offices and Health and Human Services Commission offices, according to the San Jacinto Times.

What happens if you miss the deadline

Voters who miss the Oct. 5 deadline can still vote, but the process gets harder, according to the AP.

Voters who moved within the same county can cast a regular ballot during early voting or on Election Day after filling out a statement of residence form. Voters who moved to a different county can cast a limited ballot during early voting only. That limited ballot covers only races and measures common to both the voter's old and new county. On Election Day, no limited ballot option is available for voters who changed counties, according to Votebeat.

Voters who stay on the suspense list without voting through two federal election cycles, or four years, can be removed from the rolls entirely, according to the Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector's Office. Alicia Pierce, spokesperson for the Texas Secretary of State, said anyone mistakenly removed can be reinstated and still vote.

That cancellation process would not begin until December, after the November election, Travis County tax assessor-collector spokesperson Whitney Sklar told Axios.

The next step for Clear Lake area voters: check VoteTexas.gov before Oct. 5, or contact the Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector's Office or the Galveston County Tax Assessor-Collector's Office directly.