Americans will soon to elect either their first African-American president or woman vice-president next month. But with all the hype surrounding the election, you might have forgotten one important factor - make sure you've registered to vote.
Today is the last day to register to vote in around the nation. The forms can be found at libraries, post offices and election offices. Residents can not register to vote online, but they can find the registration form at the Texas Secretary of State’s Web site to print it out for submission. Texas has more than 13.2 million registered voters, which is about 75 percent of the state’s total voting age population. Total registration has grown by about 500,000 since the March primaries. Officials are encouraging Texas voters to take advantage of the early voting from October 20 - 31.
Registered voters can cast ballots at any early voting location within your county. Besides the presidential election, Central Texas voters will be electing a U.S. senator, U.S. representatives, Texas Supreme Court, appeals court and local judges, state legislators, county commissioners and sheriffs. Most ballots also include a host of important local issues. Austin voters face a school district tax increase and a proposition that would ban tax incentives for retail projects. Hays County voters have a bond issue for road improvements on the ballot.
Campuses across the nation are handing out receipts for students who votes in the election. Voter-registration drives across campus may be breaking a state law without knowing it. They must give receipts to all applicants who fill out registration forms or they could face charges of a class one misdemeanor. With blank registration forms on clipboards and tables, groups across campus have urged students to register to vote before today’s deadline.
According to the registrar’s office, all students should receive a receipt in his or her hands. It is proof that they did register. If they do not receive a voter card by Election Day, the receipt can substitute for that identification. However, anyone who registers within the registrar’s office does not need a receipt.
Members of the Student Government Association who registered students on the commons were prepared with a binder of instructions. It included information about both registration forms and absentee ballot applications for each state.
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