Filing open for upcoming May election

Candidate filing for the upcoming May general election has opened. Entities which will be holding local elections are the city of Breckenridge, Breckenridge ISD Board of Trustees, and Stephens Memorial Hospital District Board of Directors.

The first day to file for a place on the general election ballot was Wednesday, Jan. 19, and the last day to file will be Friday, Feb. 18, or depending on when the entity closes. The last day to order a general election or special election measure on the ballot will be Friday, Feb. 18. The last day to file a declaration as a write-in candidate will be Tuesday, Feb. 22.

The last day to register to vote in the election will be Thursday, April 7. The first day to apply for a ballot by mail was Saturday, Jan. 1 and the last day will be Tuesday, April 26. The last day to return a ballot by mail will be Saturday, May 7. Early voting in the election will be held from Monday, April 25 through Tuesday, May 3. Election day will be held from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 7.

Those looking to register to vote in the upcoming election can visit the Stephens County Tax Assessor’s office inside the Stephens County Courthouse, located at 200 W. Walker Street in Breckenridge. Applications are available at https://vrapp.sos.state.tx.us/index.asp and must be returned to the county tax assessor’s office no later than Thursday, April 7.

To be eligible to vote in the state of Texas, a person must be a U.S. citizen; must be a resident of the county where the person submitted the application; must be 17 and 10 months and 18 years old on the day of the election; must not be a convicted felon and have not been declared by a court exercising probate jurisdiction to be either totally mentally incapacitated or partially mentally incapacitated without the right to vote.

Voters must have one of the seven acceptable forms of identification, which are a Texas drivers license, a Texas I.D. issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety, a Texas election I.D., a Texas handgun license, a U.S. Military Identification Card containing the person’s photograph, a U.S. Citizenship Certificate containing the person’s photograph, or a U.S. Passport (book or card).

For the full story, click here to subscribe or log in to read the Wednesday, Feb. 2 edition of the Breckenridge American.