The last day to register to vote is Oct. 5 and with Election Day just around the corner, a UTRGV Political Science lecturer said there are several things that make this election different from others.
Andrew Smith said it is going to be the first presidential election that has taken place in the middle of a national health pandemic as well as having a president openly questioning the legality of the election before the ballot.
“In terms of presidents questioning the legitimacy of the election prior to winning or losing, plenty of presidents have questioned the legality of the results of an election,” Smith said in an email sent to Vaquero Radio. “To the best of my knowledge, no sitting president has ever questioned the legitimacy of an election before the ballots have even been cast.”
As reported by Vaquero Radio on Monday, early voting starts Oct. 13 and ends Oct. 30. Election Day is Nov. 3.
Cameron County Elections Administrator Remi Garza says there will be a significant increase in voters.
“Cameron County almost had 97,000 voters during the 2018 election,” Garza said. “And I really feel that we’re going to get over a hundred thousand for this election.”
According to Garza, as of last week, more than 216,000 people are registered to vote in Cameron County.
Hidalgo County Elections Administrator Yvonne Ramón says they are always working on an increase.
“Because Hidalgo County hit over 386,000 registered voters, that is the most we’ve ever had, but it’s not enough to say that you are a large county in comparison to the Rio Grande Valley,” Ramón said. “We are in fact very, very large in comparison to our neighboring counties. What’s better is to be able to say, and we have a high voter turnout percentage.”
Smith said the Rio Grande Valley remains a Democratic stronghold.
“I think [the Valley] will remain [Democratic]… for this election,” Smith said. “At the same time … you’ve seen the population increase and you’re seeing so many more younger voters getting registered to vote.”
Visit votetexas.gov on how to register to vote or see voter registration status.
Residents in Cameron and Hidalgo County have three options to vote: polling locations, curbside voting or ballot by mail.
To find early voting or Election Day polling sites, visit the Hidalgo or Cameron County elections department’s website.
The UTRGV Edinburg campus will have early voting and Election Day site in the Ballroom.
While the Brownsville campus will not have an early voting site, there will be one in close proximity at the Texas Southmost College Jacob Brown Auditorium.
Both counties will be taking precautionary measures for in-person voting, such as implementing social distancing, face mask protocols, and cleaning and disinfected areas.
Ramón said people who would like to vote by mail must meet several qualifications such as be 65 years or older, be sick or disabled, be out of the county on election day and during the period of early voting by personal appearance or be confined in jail but eligible.
Garza explained the importance of submitting a ballot by mail early.
“We encourage anybody to apply for a ballot by mail the minute they think they might be voting that way,” he said. “The deadline is Friday, October 23rd, but in order for us to make sure we can get the ballot to you timely and have the voter get enough time to return the ballot to us, we ask them to please submit that as quickly as possible so that we can get it out as quickly as possible.”
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