State Secretary Jane Nelson visited the UTRGV Edinburg campus Tuesday to educate attendees about voting so all Texans who cast a ballot have all the information they need.
Nelson is visiting universities and colleges across the state and said students need to remember an important website that serves as the official webpage to find voting information.
“Votetexas.gov is the official website from my office with all of the voting information that you will need,” she said. “For college students particularly, you are going to have to make some decisions about voting.”
Although the deadline to register to vote for the March 5 Primary Election passed, Nelson said there is still time to register for other elections that will take place this year. She said she encourages everyone to take advantage of their right to vote.
She noted to attendees that their student IDs are not an approved proof of identification.
“Take your Texas drivers license,” Nelson said. “Here are the seven forms: Texas drivers license, a Texas personal Identification card, a passport, a Texas handgun license, a military identification card, a citizenship certificate or a Texas election identification certificate. Any of those seven would work.”
Vaquero Radio asked Nelson what her thoughts were on the Texas voter turnout being lower compared to other states, to which she replied she did not know why it is so low.
“I would offer encouragement to change it,” she said. “Educate people, tell them where to go to vote, have what they need to take with them, how to vote and the other thing you all can help with this talk it up, ‘Go vote. Did you vote?’”
Marketing sophomore Emmanuel Ayala said the state secretary was repetitive.
“But again we are in a time of elections, so you are going to be hearing it everywhere no matter what, but it was very cool hearing it from her,” Ayala said.
Nelson said she encourages students to go out and vote.
“Your vote does count,” she said. “And if you look at numbers, it’s abysmally low how many people take advantage of this precious right, and I am hoping that your generation of some people that I’m sitting now here will change that because your vote does count; it does count everywhere.”
Students can cast a ballot during early voting until Friday on the on-campus polling stations located on Brownsville Interdisciplinary Academic Building for Cameron county and on the Edinburg Student Academic Center for Hidalgo county.
Election Day is Tuesday.
This is Fernanda Gonzalez for Vaquero Radio.
