When there is no presidential election on the November ballot, many people don’t vote, even though they are eligible to vote. They don’t think that stakes are high enough for them to spend the time to cast a ballot for candidates and on referendums. They could not be more wrong.
Yet only a third of the 2 million people registered to vote in Houston and Harris County cast their ballots in the November 2014 election, when the choices included candidates for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, governor, lieutenant governor and many other offices.
Now, four years later, I urge all registered voters in the city of Houston to buck the trend in the Nov. 6 election, for which early voting starts Oct. 22. Again the choices include candidates for Congress, governor, lieutenant governor and dozens of other important positions. Also on the ballot are city Propositions A and B, which are the Re Build Houston vote and the vote on the firefighters’ union salary referendum. There’s so much at stake at the voting booth!
But first you have to be a registered voter to take part. For qualified residents who are not registered to vote, the sign-up deadline is Oct. 9. For instructions on all the ways you can register to vote, and who is qualified to register, go to https://www.hctax.net/Voter/Registration or call the Harris County Registrar’s Office at 713-274-8200.
Not sure if you are registered to vote in Harris County?
Look at https://www.hctax.net/Voter/Search
Some city residents live in Fort Bend (www.fortbendcountytx.gov/government) and Montgomery (www.mctx.org) counties. They should contact their county officials for voting information.
Voter registration in these counties is handled by the voter registrar while the election and the counting of the votes are handled by county clerks’ offices. For information on how, where and when to votes in Harris County, look at www.harrisvotes.com or
call (713) 274-9550.
At www.harrisvotes.com you can find a list of locations and hours for early voting locations and eventually a list of polling places for election day. There’s also an explanation of who can vote, and how to vote, by mail. The information is available in English, Spanish, Vietnamese and Chinese, as required by law.
Only residents of the city are qualified to vote on Propositions A and B, and I hope all voters will make selections on these propositions at the end of the ballot. Voters using the straight ticket option to vote for all candidates of a single political party must make additional “yes” or “no” votes on the propositions for their selections on those items to count.
Last month in this space, I described the issues involved in both propositions. The information is now online at http://houstontx.gov/houstonvotes2018/, where there is also a list of town hall meetings I am conducting about the propositions in each City Council district. The last one is Oct. 18.
I hope every voter will study these issues and also make educated choices about the candidates for office.