Facts About Voting In Texas In 2012—What Is The Deadline For Registration? When Is Early Voting?

Election Day is approaching here in Texas and across the nation.

(Above–Give apathy and inaction the boot with your participation in public affairs here in Texas.)

Election Day is Tuesday, November 6.

The Texas Secretary of State says the following about 2012 voting in Texas—

“The deadline to register and be eligible to vote in the November 6, 2012 General Election is October 9, 2012. This can be either the postmark date or the date the application is received in the office of the voter registrar. You may, of course, register at any time before that date to ensure that your registration is effective for voting in November. You can obtain a voter registration application from your voter registrar’s office, libraries, most post offices, high schools, or from this office.”

Here is the link to the State of Texas website that discusses voting requirements in Texas.

You can find information here about questions such as what do to if you have moved since you last voted or if you can vote by mail.  Many subjects are addressed at this website.

There has been a lot of talk about new identification requirements for voting in Texas.

Here is what the Secretary of State says about this concern—

To cast a ballot in person for the November 6 General Election during Early Voting or on Election Day, voters should present their voter registration card or in lieu of a voter registration card, at least one of the following:

• A driver’s license or personal identification card issued to you by the Texas Department of Public Safety. You may also bring a similar document issued to you by an agency of another state, even if the license or card has expired;
• A form of identification that contains your photograph and establishes your identity;
• A birth certificate or other document confirming birth that is admissible in a court of law and establishes the person’s identity;
• Your United States citizenship papers;
• Your United States passport;
• Official mail addressed to you by a governmental entity; or
• A copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document that shows your name and address.

Many folks like to vote early in Texas.

Early voting in Texas for the 2012 General Election begins on October 22 and ends on November 2.

Here is the website of the Green Party of Texas.

Here is the website of the Texas Democratic Party.

The work of freedom is up to each of us.

Beyond voting we should recall that every Texan and every American has the ability to attend a public meeting, attend or organize a protest, write or call an elected official, talk to friends and family, start a blog, donate money, write a letter to the editor, volunteer for candidates and causes, engage in acts of civil disobedience, and to run for public office.

Shocking And Unjustified Voter Purges Taking Place In Houston And All Across Texas

Out of control voter registrars are disenfranchising Texans all over our great state.

From the Houston Chronicle—

“Walter Pinkston, a Friendswood retiree and faithful Harris County voter, got a letter in late March asking his family to confirm that he was dead – which he was not – and warning that he was about to be purged from Texas voter rolls. Retired Houston Baptist University Professor Trilla Pando received a similar notice of her death from voter registration officials in 2010. Even Sylvia Garcia, a former Harris County commissioner, got suspended – not because anyone thought she was dead – but because county officials questioned the validity of a P.O. Box the Houston native had used on her voting card for years. More than 300,000 valid voters were notified they could be removed from Texas rolls from November 2008 to November 2010 – often because they were mistaken for someone else or failed to receive or respond to generic form letters, according to Houston Chronicle interviews and analysis of voter registration data…..Statewide, more than 1.5 million voters could be on the path to cancellation if they fail to vote or to update their records for two consecutive federal elections: One out of every 10 Texas voters’ registration is currently suspended. Among voters under 30, the figure is about one in five. Texas voter registration rates are among the lowest in the nation, but Texas pays nearly twice as much to cancel voters – 40 cents per cancellation – as it does to register new ones at 25 cents.”

How do the officials responsible for this live with themselves?  What is more basic and American than the right to vote?

Out state is broke we are told, but we have plenty of money to stop people from voting.

These unAmerican voter purge efforts are taking place all across our nation. These efforts are being led by conservatives.

Republicans are fearful of our multi-ethnic future, and of a fair count at the polls this upcoming Election Day.

What a sharp departure this all is from the most essential American values of full-inclusion and a vigorous democracy.

Houston-Based King Street Patriot Tea Party Cell Wins Ronald Reagan Award—Prize Is Well-Deserved

The so-called King Street Patriots have won the 2011 Ronald Reagan Award at the recently concluded Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington.

(Above–Ronald Reagan in 1980 campaigning in South Carolina with Senator Strom Thrumond. Mr. Thurmond is seen here to the left of Mr. Reagan. Senator Thurmond was a 1948 Dixiecrat candidate for President.)

The King Street Patriots are a Tea Party cell based here in Houston.

CPAC is a national confederation of extreme conservative activists. At the 2011 meeting, libertarian Houston-area U.S. Representative Ron Paul won the presidential straw poll.

Rep. Paul is the libertarian who loves earmarks.

Consistent with the views of portions of the American right, Rep. Paul invited an economist with ties to group advocating southern secession to testify before the House committee he chairs.

In what way did the King Street Patriots (KSP) Tea Party cell reflect the accomplishments of Ronald Reagan?  Why did this group merit the award?

Did the King Street Patriots equal Ronald Reagan’s neglect of the AIDS crisis even as thousands died?

Well…even though the Tea Party position of repeal for Healthcare Reform would cause Americans to lose needed care and to die, this is not why KSP won the Reagan prize.

Did the King Street Patriots match the Gipper in doing to harm to our environment? Remember Mr. Reagan’s nature-hating Interior Secretary James Watt?

Well…even though the Tea Party had a part in electing a Republican leadership in Texas that has pursued environmental polices so bad that even conservative Oklahoma complained to the EPA about the bad air drifting over from Texas, this is not why the King Street folks took the Reagan award for 2011.

Did the King Street Patriots live up to Mr. Reagan’s legacy of making an important 1980 campaign appearance in Philadelphia, Mississippi—near the location of brutal crimes against Civil Rights workers in the 1960’s–and saying “I believe in states rights.”

You got it.

The King Street Patriots won the Reagan prize for their efforts against non-existent voter fraud in majority-minority Harris County, Texas.

As many Southern whites regress to the solid one-party politics of a shameful past, Republicans and allied Tea Party groups around the nation are working hard to put up obstacles to voting by likely Democratic voters.

With Harris County and Texas undergoing massive demographic change, Republicans are afraid that they will lose control of the county and the state.

As much as I don’t like what the so-called King Street Patriots are doing, they are doing things the law permits. We are not going to change the minds of people in these Tea Party cells. They have a right to act in any manner within the law no matter how offensive and wrong.

The real issue is for folks on our side of the aisle to meet the challenge and to make progress. Progress is always possible.

Voter registration drives of likely Democratic voters should be taking place year round. Lawyers should be in place to defend these registration efforts. Our fellow citizens need to know they will backed up when they go to vote.

Democratic elected officials, along with the civil rights and progressive groups, must work together with the same common purpose we often see on the right.  Everyday citizens must be invloved in doing the work of freedom.

It is up to each of as individuals to make the decision to work collectively for the causes we value.

*************************************************************************************************************

Some resources on the topic of voting—

Here is information on voting in Texas.

A new book on the subject of voter fraud is The Myth of Voter Fraud by Lori Minnite.

Here is a Green Party history of voting rights in the United States.

Here is the web home of the Harris County Democratic Party. Ask them what they are doing to make sure all people in Harris County are being allowed to vote.

And don’t forget–You are your own best resource for the change you want to see.

(Below–1867 drawing of newly freed black men voting. Women would not get the vote until 1920. And of course, near-total resistance to blacks voting went on well into the 1960’s.)

I Took Our U.S. Constitution, A Document Able To Meet The Demands Of The Present Day, Into the Voting Booth—TPA Round-Up

Here is the weekly round-up of the Texas Progressive Alliance. The TPA is a confederation of the best political bloggers in Texas.

With the round-up this week is a picture of me at my early voting place this past Saturday afternoon.

In the picture I’m holding my copy of the United States Constitution that I took into the voting booth. As I’ve written, I carry the Constitution with me at all times.

I do so in case I am harassed out of the blue on the public street by crazies denying that the commerce clause  permits Health Care Reform or that the Constitution  is some how a right-wing document that favors a conservative view of public policy.

We can’t allow angry small-minded folks to define our founding documents. The Constitution is a document fully able to meet the demands of the present day.

The round-up—

Off the Kuff has interviews with Linda Chavez-Thompson and Barbara Radnofsky.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme thinks breathing benzene, sulfur dioxide and other pollutants is bad. Why doesn’t the TCEQ agree?

The Texas Cloverleaf posts on Blog Action Day about clean water in the Barnett shale.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson points our that there a still many unanswered questions regarding Gov. Perry and a special favor for a mega donor, The drip, drip, drip continues for Perry’s mega-donor problem.

It Is About Who Votes

I don’t like to talk about polls, but I will do so in this case.

The latest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll points to Republican gains next month.

As things stand now, Republicans are more inclined to go to the polls. It is the people who vote who will decide what happens.

However, there is also this in the poll—

President Barack Obama’s numbers have improved slightly. His job-approval rating among registered voters stands at 47 percent, up one point from last month and three points from August….that rating is better than George W. Bush’s 38 percent in October 2006 (before Republicans lost control of Congress) and Bill Clinton’s 46 percent in October 1994 (before Democrats lost power).

There is also this-—

“In the survey, 50 percent of likely voters say they prefer a Republican-controlled Congress, versus 43 percent who want Democrats in charge. Last month, Republicans held a 46 percent to 43 percent advantage among likely voters on this question. The GOP’s current seven-point lead, McInturff observes, is on pace — historically — to result in a shift of power in Congress. “The Democrats, with two weeks left, are facing very, very difficult arithmetic.” Yet among the wider universe of registered voters, Democrats hold a two-point edge, 46 to 44 percent, which is up from the 44 percent to 44 percent tie in September.”

I’m not trying to paint a phony picture of what is going to happen in the upcoming election. I expect Republican gains.

I’ll just say that for all the alleged anger and for as bad as the economy has been since Mr Obama took office, many folks continue to support Democrats.

As rough as the next two weeks may be—though there is still plenty to be hopeful about—2012 will be hard-fought election with a wider turnout. There is no reason to despair.

Or maybe what I should say is that there is no reason to despair except for the people who vote Democratic who are instead not voting.

When Must One Register To Be Able To Vote In Texas In 2010? When Is Election Day?

Who can vote on General Election Day in Texas and in Harris County, Texas? When must one register to vote in order to be eligible? What day is Election Day?

The last day one can register to vote this year is October 4.

The first day of Early Voting across Texas is October 18.

Election Day across Texas is November 2.

Here is a summary of important dates in the upcoming election season.

These are the qualifications for being eligible to vote for all of Texas —

To be eligible to register to vote in Texas, any United States citizen residing in Texas who is:

• At least 18 years old on Election Day
• Not a convicted felon (unless sentence, probation and/or parole are completed)
• Not declared mentally incapacitated by a court of law.

The information below describes how one can register—

Registering to vote is easy in Texas. It doesn’t even require a stamp! Official applications to register to vote are postage-paid by the State of Texas. In most Texas counties, the Tax Assessor-Collector is also the Voter Registrar. In some counties, the County Clerk or Elections Administrator registers voters. You may obtain an application from the county Voter Registrar’s office, the Secretary of State’s Office, libraries, many post offices, high schools and on the web. From our website, you may request that we send you an official, postage-paid application. Or, you may download an informal application, but you will be required to affix a stamp before mailing. You may also register to vote when you apply for or renew your driver’s license.

Read the instructions on the form, fill it out and mail it to the Voter Registrar in your county, or take it to the Voter Registrar’s office in your county. You must be at least 17 years and 10 months of age on the date you apply.

If for any reason you cannot register yourself, with your permission, your spouse, parent or child may fill out and sign an application for you if that person is a registered voter or has applied for voter registration. This person is known as your “agent.”The application must be received in the Voter Registrar’s office or postmarked 30 days before an election in order for you to be eligible to vote in that election. You will receive a voter registration certificate in the mail after the Voter Registrar has processed your voter registration application. Upon receipt of the voter registration certificate, sign it, fold it and keep in it in your wallet and take it to the polls with you when you vote.

All voters who register to vote in Texas must provide a Texas driver’s license number or personal identification number issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety. If you do not have such a number, then you must state that fact and provide the last four digits of your social security number. If you do not have a social security number, you must also state that fact.

These facts come from the office of the Texas Secretary of State. You can click the link for full details.

Here is information about registering to vote in Harris County, Texas. When you register to vote in Harris County, be certain you fill out the registration form correctly without any mistakes. The County Registrar, Leo Vasquez, has often shown himself more concerned  with keeping people from voting than he is in making sure that people are able to vote.

Here is the campaign web page for Bill White for Governor of Texas. Please consider voting for Mr. White. The incumbent Governor is already the longest-serving Governor in the history of Texas. It is time for somebody new.

My Brief Exchange With Harris County Judge Ed Emmett On Issues Of Election Integrity—Leo Vasquez Is Abusing His Office

Here is a posting offered up by Harris County, Texas Judge Executive Ed Emmett on his campaign related Facebook page yesterday evening—

“Early voting starts in just 9 weeks. Bev Kaufman, our County Clerk, and her staff are doing a great job responding to the disaster of losing our voting machines in a fire. Too bad some folks are trying to play politics with the situation.” (I added the link for this blog post.)

Here is the reply I posted to this comment on the same Facebook page——

“Judge Emmett–As you know, Republican Party officials in Harris County have not merited the trust of wide segments of the population when it comes to elections being conducted in a fully fair manner. You could offer some leadership within your own party as so-called Tea Party groups financed by billionaires seek to suppress minority turnout. It is in this climate that the voting machine issue has become an additional and connected source of concern. You are on record as saying partisan leadership of the registration process is not the best way to go. Your previous views are of greater value than what you have said this evening on Facebook. Thank you.” (Again, link added for this post.)

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/7041473.html

(Above is link to a Houston Chronicle article written by Judge Emmett about the idea of non-partisan leadership of county voter registration efforts that I included in my reply to the Judge,. )

Here is what Judge Emmett said in response as posted on my personal Facebook page.

“Actually, Neil, last night’s post was in error. Early voting really starts in 7 weeks and election day is in 9 weeks. I encourage everyone on all sides to not play politics with the voting machine disaster. Hopefully, that is consistent with my earlier comments.”

For what it may or may not be worth, Judge Emmett’s first post was deleted on Facebook and replaced with the following status update—

“Election day is 9 weeks from today. early voting begins in just 7 weeks. Lot’s to do between now and then.”

I may be struck by lightning for this, but I really don’t mind Judge Emmett despite the fact he is a Republican.  I think he gets that a huge diverse county like Harris County can’t be run as some Tea Party- no government- white people’s republic.  I wonder sometimes if he exerts a moderating force on a county Republican Party that might otherwise be even worse than it is already.

(Below–Lightning.)

The thing is, I simply don’t trust Republicans in Harris County, or anyplace else, to do the right thing.

I especially don’t trust Republicans to count the votes fairly as they see—sooner or later—Harris County and all of Texas slipping away as election results finally start to mirror the demographic realities of our region and of our state.

I’m an ideologically motivated partisan. But you can bet that if I was in charge of voter registration in Harris County, I would work hard to make sure that all people could vote regardless of what party they supported.

If Judge Emmett can show leadership in the weeks ahead to help make sure that all eligible voters in Harris County are able to take part in early voting ,and are able to vote on Election Day, then he will merit the thanks of the people of our county.

It is not just about the voting machines. It is about Leo Vasquez working in tandem with a partisan Tea Party group. While I trust Houston Votes, they are not the point. Mr. Vasquez is abusing his office.

Election results that nobody trusts will prove poisonous to democracy. If nobody believes that our representatives are fairly elected, our democracy will not be able to go forward. There must be some bottom line of legitimacy.

Judge Emmett’s Democratic opponent in 2010 is former Houston City Councilmember Gordon Quan.

(Below–Judge Emmett taking oath of office in 2008.)

Leo Vasquez Teams Up With Same Racists Who Defeated Him In Primary To Help Deny Hispanics And The Poor The Right To Vote In Harris County

Outgoing Harris County Republican Tax Assessor Collector Leo Vasquez is harassing the Houston Votes voter registration drive. Mr. Vasquez is responsible for voter registration in Harris County.

Houston Votes is seeking to register thousands of new voters in Harris County for the 2010 election. The goal is to encourage voting by the poor, by Hispanics, and by the young in Harris County.

This is work that should have been done years ago by the Harris County Democratic Party and by elected Democrats in safe low turnout districts.

Here is the Houston Votes web home. Please visit Houston Votes and see the good work they are accomplishing.

Mr. Vasquez says that possibly one-third of the approximately 25,000 applications turned in by Houston Votes so far are for various reasons not valid.

That’s what he says. Though it is entirely possible Mr. Vasquez could be making stuff up to keep voters he feels will be Democrats off the voter rolls.

If mistakes were made, then disallow the voter applications. Just be sure they are disallowed for valid reasons and not for political reasons.

Here is how the Houston Chronicle reported Mr. Vasquez’s attack on Houston Votes and on the concept of full representation for all—

“Though Vasquez announced his briefing as a news conference, the event was packed with members of True the Vote, an initiative of local tea party activists aimed at combating voter fraud. Members punctuated Vasquez’s prepared remarks with bursts of applause.”

Mr. Vasquez lost the Republican primary earlier this year. After the election, many observers felt that a big reason Mr. Vasquez lost was because Harris County Republicans would not vote for a Hispanic.

At the time, Mr. Vasquez himself seemed to think that one of the reasons he lost was because he was Hispanic.

Now Mr. Vasquez teams up with the same racist folks that helped put him out of office to make it more difficult for Hispanics to vote in Harris County.

Has Mr. Vasquez any self-respect? Is he so desperate to be seen as tough on Hispanics that he will consort with the extreme so-called Tea Party? Does Mr. Vasquez need to hold another political office someday that badly?

I’ve met the Houston Votes people and they are not fraudsters. They are folks, mostly Democrats, who really want to include more people in the political process.

Registering disenfranchised constituencies with a collection of volunteers and temporary workers is by definition going to be an imperfect process.

It is turned into something more sinister only when a lame duck, desperate-for-approval politician teams up with racist groups to subvert our political process by making sure that many of our fellow Americans will not be able to vote.

All this would be disgusting anywhere in America. That it is happening in racially and ethnically diverse Harris County  makes it even more appalling.

My friend Perry at the great Houston political blog Brains & Eggs has written on this issue. Leading local blogger John Coby at Bay Area Houston has also offered his views.

You Can Register To Vote In Three Languages In Harris County, Texas—What Are Tea Party Folks Going To Do About That?

Here is a picture of a sign I took a few days ago. This sign is at the office of the Harris County, Texas Tax Assessor-Collector & Voter Registrar.

The incumbent holder of this office is appointed Republican Leo Vasquez. Mr. Vasquez lost the Republican primary a few months back.

Mr. Vasquez was not the only Republican in Texas who seems to have lost a primary because a Hispanic last name.

You see that in this Harris County, Texas government office that you can get a voter registration form in English, Spanish and Vietnamese.

This is because Harris County is a multi-ethnic place. Just as is Texas and the United States of America.

What are the loudmouth Tea Party folks going to do about these facts?

Nothing. Our county, our state, and our nation are changing.

These so-called Tea Party folks may, or may not, win some elections this year.

But over the long haul, these folks are going to find themselves out in the cold.

This is good part why the Tea Party people are so angry. They know they are fighting a lost cause.

Houston Votes Looks To Register 100,000 Harris County Voters—This Is A Worthy Effort

A non-partisan group called Houston Votes is registering people to vote in Houston and Harris County, Texas. Houston Votes recently held a lunch for local bloggers to explain the project. I attended this lunch.

Houston Votes is a project of Texans Together.

In addition to voter registration, Texans Together is working on cleaning the San Jacinto River and on an effort to improve the lives of people living in lower-income apartment housing in the Houston area.

I like what Texans Together is working to accomplish.

Though as Texans Together gets into voter registration, I wish the major funding sources for this group were more transparent on the web page. I don’t see them listed at all.  We do not live in trusting times and if you say your efforts are non-partisan, you’re going to have to back that assertion up with proof.

Looking at the list of board members of Texans Together, I see a number of people who seem to have ties to the Democratic Party, but none who appear to have Republican ties.

If I were a Republican, I would have a hard time with the non-partisan claim.

The long-term purposes of Texans Together would be served by some conservative presence on the board. There is nothing contradictory — in theory at least because I know the political right at the moment is on a tangent — with much of what this group is doing and conservative ideals. If it is to be a non-partisan outfit, then becoming identified with one side of the political aisle or the other will be a hard identification to shake.

I believe in democracy and I believe that all people should vote in all elections. As I wrote here three years ago, I’ve failed to vote once in my life. I did not vote on a single-issue ballot on a hospital bond issue in Hamilton County, Ohio 20 years ago.  This omission forever ruins an otherwise perfect voting record.

My belief in democracy and in voting comes from varying sources. I’m optimistic that democracy and voting can make life better. I feel that people should do their civic duty. I have a streak of nihilism that says if people do want to vote against their interests at times, as they often do, so be it.

At the blogger lunch, Houston Votes had a hand-out suggesting that there are 742,000 eligible unregistered adults in Harris County.  The Houston Votes Goal is to register 100,000 of these people before the October 4 registration deadline. All of the Houston Votes material distributed at the lunch can be found at the Houston political blog Big Jolly Politics.

The focus of the registration drive is low-income minority persons and young people. These are the people Houston Votes has identified as the least likely to be registered in Harris County.

These are also people who may well , taken as a whole, vote for Democrats. It is impossible to know what an individual will do in any given circumstance. But it does seem likely that many of the folks Houston Votes registers will vote Democratic.

If the point is to register those who have not been part of the process and the reality is that many of these people might prove to be Democrats–Then those are the facts.

Yet areas of low turnout in historically Republican areas of the county could have been identified by Houston Votes and these areas could also have been at least some focus of the drive. There are no doubt a number of people in likely Republican areas of Harris County who are eligible to vote but are not registered. Such an effort would lend greater weight to the non-partisan claim. Though in saying this, I do feel Houston Votes believes they are non-partisan and I am convinced they are not asking people in advance how they would vote.

What Houston Votes is doing is excellent. Political parties often have little interest in expanding the pool of registered voters. The Democratic Party uses minority voters and urban voters in every election and often offers little in return. Houston Mayor Annise Parker, a Democrat and someone supported by many progressives, seems to have nothing to say about barbarically high levels of poverty in Houston or about immigration.  Ms. Parker seems content to win in low-turnout elections where she’ll count on Republicans for her success as much as she’ll look to fellow Democrats in our city.

If Democrats really made an effort to register poor people, they would have to do better in serving the interests of poor people. The same goes for the unwillingness of Democrats to really go after increased Hispanic turnout in Harris County.

Republican office holders will also neglect their own people. This something the Tea Party folks will see soon enough from whoever they are able to get elected this November. This is assuming they don’t all go completely crazy by November.

Houston Votes is helping more people take part in the political process. The gap between who lives in Harris County and who votes is a wide canyon. I support this registration effort and would be happy to use this blog to promote future Houston Votes and Texans Together initiatives.

(In addition to Mr. Jennings from Big Jolly Politics, other bloggers at the lunch were Charles Kuffner at Off the Kuff, Martha Griffin at Musings, Stace Medellin at DosCentavos, Perry Dorrell at Brains and Eggs and David Ortez at David Ortez.)

The last day to register to vote in Harris County and in Texas is October 4.  Please be certain to register and to vote.

When Must One Register To Be Eligible To Vote In 2010 Texas Primary?—I Will Tell You

What is the last day one can register to vote for the 2010 Texas Primary?

I will tell you.

The last day you can register  for the primary is February 1, 2010.

(Above—A ballot box in Italy.)

Here is information about voting in the primary and voting in Texas from the office of the Texas Secretary of State.

Often one can register to vote at a library or when renewing a driver’s license.

Please vote in the Texas Primary and please vote in every election.

Your vote is needed as a counterweight to the big corporations and to the crazy Tea Party people who want to hand this state and nation over to the big money and to far right-wing Christians.

(Note—This is the Texas Liberal Texas Primary 2010 post of the day.)

It Does Not Hurt Anything To Let People Vote In Spanish Or Vietnamese—Even Here In Texas

Below is a picture I took of the electronic ballot box I used to vote in our Houston city elections earlier this week.

If you look, you see that one can vote in English, Spanish or Vietnamese. These are the options we have here in Harris County.

If English is our so-called official language, how come we can vote in languages other than English? How come we can do so even here in Texas?

It doesn’t hurt anything to let people vote in Spanish or Vietnamese.

All people are our fellows.

Photo Essay—Go Out And Vote

People have been doing it for a long time–

And yes—sometimes it is meaningless–

Yet often the right to vote has come at a high cost ( Blacks voting in New Orleans after the Civil War) —

So take a spin of the wheel—

 And cast a ballot.

Who Can Vote In Texas? When Must One Register To Be Eligible? When Is Election Day?

(Blogger’s Note  10/3/12—Here is a link to my post about 2012 voting information for Texas.)

Who can vote on General Election Day in Texas and in Harris County, Texas? When must one register to vote in order to be eligible? What day is Election Day?

The last day one can register to vote this year is October 6.

These are the qualifications for being eligible to vote for all of Texas —

To be eligible to register to vote in Texas, any United States citizen residing in Texas who is:

• At least 18 years old on Election Day
• Not a convicted felon (unless sentence, probation and/or parole are completed)
• Not declared mentally incapacitated by a court of law.

The information below describes how one can register and by what day one must register—

 

Registering to vote is easy in Texas. It doesn’t even require a stamp! Official applications to register to vote are postage-paid by the State of Texas. In most Texas counties, the Tax Assessor-Collector is also the Voter Registrar. In some counties, the County Clerk or Elections Administrator registers voters. You may obtain an application from the county Voter Registrar’s office, the Secretary of State’s Office, libraries, many post offices, high schools and on the web. From our website, you may request that we send you an official, postage-paid application. Or, you may download an informal application, but you will be required to affix a stamp before mailing. You may also register to vote when you apply for or renew your driver’s license.

Read the instructions on the form, fill it out and mail it to the Voter Registrar in your county, or take it to the Voter Registrar’s office in your county. You must be at least 17 years and 10 months of age on the date you apply.

If for any reason you cannot register yourself, with your permission, your spouse, parent or child may fill out and sign an application for you if that person is a registered voter or has applied for voter registration. This person is known as your “agent.” The application must be received in the Voter Registrar’s office or postmarked 30 days before an election in order for you to be eligible to vote in that election. You will receive a voter registration certificate in the mail after the Voter Registrar has processed your voter registration application. Upon receipt of the voter registration certificate, sign it, fold it and keep in it in your wallet and take it to the polls with you when you vote.

All voters who register to vote in Texas must provide a Texas driver’s license number or personal identification number issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety. If you do not have such a number, then you must state that fact and provide the last four digits of your social security number. If you do not have a social security number, you must also state that fact.

These facts come from the office of the Texas Secretary of State. You can click the link for full details.

This blog posts out of Houston in Harris County, Texas. Here is the web page of the Harris County Democratic Party. Here is information about registering to vote in Harris County.

Here is the Barack Obama web page.

Election Day is Tuesday, November 4, 2008.

Below is Humble, Texas. This fine community is in Harris County.

Who Can Vote In The Texas Primary Runoff?—Any Registered Texan!

 

Texas primary runoff day is Tuesday April 8.

Many are wondering who can vote in runoff elections.

At least I feel many are asking even if I have not been asked personally.

The answer is simple.

Any registered Texan may vote in the runoff.

There is only one restriction. Read the text below taken from the web page of the Texas Secretary of State and you will be fully informed—

Runoff Elections: 2^nd Tuesday in April following the primary election in even-numbered years. You can only vote in one primary, and if you vote in that primary, you are entitled to vote in that party’s runoff election. If you don’t vote in either primary, you can still vote in the Primary Runoff election for whichever party you choose.  

Please click here for more information about voting in Texas.

Among the many places in Texas in which all people can vote is Pecos, Texas. Pecos is the place you see in the picture above.  

Here is a history of Pecos.

Pecos is in far west Texas. It is in Reeves County.

This post was brought to you by a liberal who believes in the free flow of information, universal health care and less money for war and more money for people who need some help in life.