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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20 | SERVING TEXAS A&M SINCE 1893 | © 2022 STUDENT MEDIA
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Prepare for the polls Essential things to know for firsttime voters before casting a ballot By Kenzie Finch @KenzieFinch6 First-time voters may not know what to expect on the day they line up at the doors, eager to cast their first votes, but there are several major things a student should be aware of before voting for the first time. In-person early voting begins Oct. 24. Mailin voting ends on Oct. 28. Voters must have a valid Texas ID on the day of the election. The ballot will include local candidates from the voters’ county and state officials running for office. Registration To check registration status, students can visit the Texas Secretary of State website at VoteTexas.gov. Brazos County Elections Administrator Trudy Hancock said in an email to The Battalion the most common mistake students make is not being registered in the right county. “If they are still registered at home they need to request a ballot by mail from the county of registration,” the email said. If a student recently moved to Brazos County
and hasn’t transferred over their voting registration, they are still eligible to vote in the county. They can do this during early voting at the Brazos County Elections Administration office at 300 E William J. Bryan Parkway, Suite 100 in Bryan. “This is called a Limited Ballot,” Hancock said in the email. “If registered in Texas and have a local address, you can vote on races that Brazos County has in common with the county of registration. If you vote [on] a Limited Ballot it moves your registration to Brazos County.” Chemistry freshman Samuel Williams said this upcoming election will be his first time voting. Williams said he is excited to finally be able to vote after watching his friends vote in previous elections. “I actually had a friend ask me if I was registered to vote … He was like ‘you can do it through Snapchat,’” Williams said. “It was pretty easy to set up.” Williams said he plans to go back to San Antonio to vote in person, where his parents will vote with him. Voting Locations Early voting: Brazos County Election Administrator Office, Arena Hall, Galilee Baptist Church, College Station Utilities Meeting & Training Facility and College Station City Hall Election Day: Memorial Student Center, or MSC, College Station City Hall, etc. For more voting locations go to Brazosvote.org
Forms of Valid IDs Hancock said first-time voters need to have a valid Texas ID. If they do not have a Texas ID, they can use their out-of-state driver’s license, but will have to sign a Reasonable Impediment Declaration. Valid IDs include: Texas Driver License issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety, or DPS Texas Election Identification Certificate issued by DPS Texas Personal Identification Card issued by DPS Texas Handgun License issued by DPS United States Military Identification Card containing the person’s photograph United States Citizenship Certificate containing the person’s photograph United States Passport (book or card) The acceptable form of photo identification may be expired no more than four years before being presented for voter qualification at the polling place. If a voter cannot present or reasonably obtain a form of acceptable ID, they can fill out a Reasonable Impediment Declaration at the polls and provide supporting documentation. More information can be found at VoteTexas. gov website. Voters can check what their county ballot will look like by going to Ballotready.org
Local elections & jurisdictions: Explained Races in Brazos County and BCS have never been more important By Jack Lee @JackTheBatt This year’s local elections will place decisions such as the future of the Northgate District, implementation of rental property inspections and future city construction projects in the hands of voters. Local elections have the most direct impact on the communities in which they take
place, but young people such as students are much less likely to vote in them. According to the National Civic League, the median age of local election voters tends to be in the 60s, and voters over 65 are over seven times more likely to vote in local elections than voters aged 18-34. A focus group organized by the Knight Foundation suggested that a likely reason for the low turnout of young voters is confusion and lack of knowledge of local issues and the capacity of local officials to execute them. The local government in the Bryan-College Station area is split into three independent tiers:
county government, city council and school board, Dwight Roblyer, Ph.D., senior lecturer of political science at Texas A&M said. “There’s multiple layers of local government that all overlap,” Roblyer said. “The highest level is county government.” Roblyer said the county government consists of elected commissioners that, working together, have legislative, judicial and executive authorities. The county government collects taxes, oversees voting, hears judicial cases and more. Due to their large scope of authorities, county officials are considered partisan officials in Texas and will have a political party listed next to GOVERNMENT ON PG. A4
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By Kenzie Allen @kenzieranae