Registration to vote in Texas’ primary elections closed Feb. 5. While the general election starts in November, Texans will start voting in the primaries on Feb. 20.
This will be the first election for many students who have turned 18 and are now eligible to vote.
“[Being represented is important] because everybody should have a voice and everybody has their own set of struggles,” senior Adriano Rendon said. “So, if some people aren’t getting heard then they will be swept under the rug and their problem will never get fixed.”
Primaries are elections that political parties use to select candidates for the general presidential election, and Texas is an open primary state. That means a voter of an affiliation can vote for any party, without having to be registered first.
A voter may only vote in one party’s primary election in order to select candidates for that party only.
After you register to vote, you can go to vote.org to find a nearby polling place. Polling places are where, starting Feb. 20, you can vote in the primary election. Make sure to check the opening and closing times before you plan to go.
“Create the habit now, and don’t be one of those people who are like, ‘Oh, my vote doesn’t count or it doesn’t matter,’ because there’s enough people that do that, that obviously it does,” government teacher Jess White said. “There are plenty of times where the percentage or individual vote has mattered. Apathy is contagious.”
Before you go to vote, educate yourself on what you’re voting for, experts say. Know your own stances on different issues, and also the candidate’s stances. Each candidate has their own website to help too.
“Anyone who is eligible to vote should vote in order to enact change, and be a part of the solution instead of a part of the problem. ,” White said. “If they don’t vote, then they’re not really giving themselves room to complain about how situations are.”
