By: Urvi Dalal
As Election Day draws near, time is running out to register to vote.
The 2022 General and Special Elections will take place Tuesday, Nov. 8., but the deadline to register to vote is this Tuesday, Oct. 11.
“Voter registration” by Erik R. Bishoff
Texas Tech Student Body President Austin Phillips encouraged all Red Raiders to register and vote.
“Be sure that your voice is able to be heard and you’re able to take part in electing people who are making decisions that affect our day-to-day lives, both as students and as citizens of our respective communities,” Phillips said.
Matt Lamb, assistant professor of political science at Texas Tech University, also said voting is crucial to maintaining democracy.
“Politicians would not be vying for your vote if it wasn’t important,” he said. “[Voters] have to remember we are not just talking about Congress or the national government; we are talking about local officials as well.”
Although a single vote is unlikely to change the outcome of a presidential or a midterm election, it can often make a difference in a local election, Lamb added.
To check whether you are already registered to vote, use the “Am I Registered to Vote?” portal
To register, citizens can visit their county election offices. In counties without election offices, the local tax assessor-collector is the voter registrar. Voter registration applications can also often be found in public libraries and post offices.
Potential voters can also complete a form online, then print, sign and mail the application to the county’s voter registrar’s office.
Roxzine Stinson, Lubbock County election administrator, said the details matter on a voter registration form.
“If you use your driver’s license number or the last four digits of your [social security number]… please make sure your name on the application matches that document,” she said. “That speeds up the process.”
In Texas, potential voters must be U.S. citizens, county residents and 18 years old by or on Election Day. Those declared mentally incapacitated may not vote, along with convicted felons– unless they have served their sentence, probation and parole.
Stinson said the Lubbock Country Elections Office will be open until 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 11., for individuals who want to come in to register or change their address. To avoid the risk that an application will not be processed, mailed voter registration forms must be postmarked.
For more information on how or where to register to vote, please see the list of resources available:
Lubbock County has 99 voting precincts, Stinson said, and it is important to vote where one lives.
“The City of Lubbock has a road bond that only those who live within Lubbock can vote on,” she said. “The City of Slaton has charter amendments, and only the folks in Slaton can vote on [those], so making sure you have your address is correct so we get you in the correct voting precinct is a big deal.”
Potential voters can vote after receiving a voter registration card. Election Day is Nov. 8, 2022, but there are options for early voting and sending a ballot by mail.
The early election period, according to the Lubbock County Elections Office website, is from Monday, Oct. 24, to Friday, Nov. 4. Mail-in in ballot forms must be requested by Friday, Oct. 28 and mailed in by Tuesday, Nov. 8, at 7 p.m. More information on mailing in ballots and how to mark ballots can be found on the Lubbock County Elections Office website.
Over 30 voting locations will be available on Election Day. See the Vote Lubbock site for exact locations and addresses. All Election Day voting centers will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Phillips, the Texas Tech student body president, said Red Raiders should be knowledgeable about the candidates on their ballots and vote for those whose policy aligns with what they are passionate about People should avoid thinking one vote doesn’t matter because they can create change in their communities only by voting.
“We all face different problems; we all face different hardships, and we all have different opinions on various things,” Phillips said. “One thing that is really important to me in the position I hold right now is to listen to all of these students that I was elected to represent. I think the general elections are no different.”
Lamb, the political science professor, said voters should not worry about fraud that elections are free, safe, and secure.
“Election administrators are working diligently to make sure elections are conducted fairly, to make to everyone that wants to vote is able to vote and are able to do so in as convenient of a manner as the law allows,” Lamb said. “All the accusatory rhetoric around the way elections are conducted is largely just that, just rhetoric.”
When going to vote, be sure to bring an ID, such as your driver’s license. The voter registration card may be helpful but is not necessary.
According to the Vote Texas website, acceptable forms of Photo ID include:
- Texas Driver’s License
- Texas Election Identification Card
- Texas Personal Identification Card
- Texas Handgun License
- Military Identification Card (with a picture)
- Citizenship certificate (with a picture)
- S. Passport (book or card)
Voters who lack one of the seven accepted options can still vote with a reasonable impediment form if they show another form of ID, such as a voter registration certificate or utility bill, Stinson said.
A sample ballot and candidate information are available on the Lubbock County Elections Office website before early voting or Election Day.
“You can actually research these candidates,” Lamb said. “Most candidates these days will have some sort of internet or social media presence, so that is a good place to start in terms of what their campaign messages are.”
Details on election candidates can be found at https://www.votelubbock.org/candidate-information/ or https://ballotpedia.org/Main_Page.
Lamb said sometimes younger generations and students say they choose not to vote because most politicians create their messages to appeal to older individuals.
“If politicians know a group of people are politically active, they are going to start paying attention to the needs of that group of people very quickly,” Lamb said. “Why is it that so many politicians cater to the policy preferences of older Americans? Well, it’s because older Americans vote at higher rates. If [younger people] start to become more politically active, that dynamic would change.”
U.S. citizens who are over 18 (except for student election clerks) and qualified voters in their county can also participate in the voting process as paid poll workers. To see Lubbock County’s poll worker eligibility criteria, visit https://www.votelubbock.org/election-information/poll-worker-information/.
The deadline to register to become a poll worker for this election is the week of Oct. 10. Those seeking to work the poll should contact the Lubbock County Elections Office.
“We’d love to have people call us,” Stinson said. “Even if we run out of space this election… for 2024 [elections] we are looking for about 400 to 500 folks to work.”
The Lubbock County Elections Office refers the poll worker candidates to temporary personnel agencies the county contracts with for payroll and assigns them a five-hour training.
Election clerks make $11 an hour, and election judges are paid $13 an hour, Stinson said. Poll workers get paid for working not only on Election Day but also for training ($9 an hour) and working during early voting.
For more information on becoming a poll worker or about the 2022 election, visit https://www.votetexas.gov/index.html or https://www.votelubbock.org/.
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