Outside of the early voting area. Picture By Diego Montano
With the midterm elections right around the corner, voters will decide several major races, but some students said they are not fully familiar with the resources available to them.
The Texas midterm elections take place Tuesday, Nov. 3. Races for governor, U.S. Senate and seats in Congress will be on the ballot. Early voting begins today and ends Oct. 30.
One of the most closely watched races is for the U.S. Senate, where Democratic state Rep. James Talarico is challenging Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
The election comes as universities across Texas prepare students for the voting process, including providing information about registration, polling locations and election deadlines.
Junior psychology student Kimberly Castillo said her knowledge of university resources is limited.
“I’m not that informed, so I know that there’s tutoring and the advisement programs and stuff like that, but that’s as far as I can go,”
Castillo said.
At UTRGV, the Vaqueros Vote initiative provides information about voter registration, election dates and on-campus polling locations.
Students on the Edinburg campus can vote at the Student Academic Center lobby starting today through Oct. 30. The location will also be open on Election Day.
On the Brownsville campus, early voting will take place at the Student Union’s Salón Jacaranda and Salon Cassia in the Main Building will be the polling location on Election Day.
The Harlingen campus will also offer Election Day voting at the Clinical Education Building.
For students voting for the first time, understanding what to expect at a polling location can help them prepare for the process.
Elections administrator for the Hidalgo County Elections Department Hilda Salinas explained the first steps voters must complete when arriving at a polling location.
“Once they do walk into the polling location, they will have to show their ID, one of the seven approved forms of identification and they will have to participate in the check-in process,”
Salinas said.
Salinas also said first-time voters can receive assistance from election workers throughout the voting process, including checking in, using voting machines and submitting their ballots.
The Hidalgo County Elections Department provides polling schedules, sample ballots and voter information through its website to help residents prepare before arriving at the polls.
As voting approaches, student political organizations are also following the statewide races.
“James Talarico is our biggest fighting chance to turn Texas blue in the last couple decades. We haven’t really had a real shot at it,”
Guerra said.
The Senate race has drawn attention across the state, with candidates campaigning ahead of the November election.
Eligible voters requesting a ballot by mail must have their applications received by Oct. 23.
Students can check their registration status, review sample ballots and find polling locations through VoteTexas.gov, UTRGV’s Vaqueros Vote website or their county elections department.
This is Diego Montano for Vaquero Radio.
