Voter registration deadline nears for November election

The deadline to register to vote in the upcoming November General Election, which will be held Tuesday, Nov 8, is less than two weeks away. On the ballot will be runnings for both federal and state seats in Stephens County.

The last day to register to vote in the November election will be Tuesday, Oct. 11. Texas Secretary of State John B. Scott encourages all eligible voters to register to vote in order to participate in the Nov. 8 General Election. Texas law requires eligible voters to be registered 30 days before election day, and since the 30th day before Nov. 8 falls on the Sunday before Columbus day, Texas voters have two extra days to register this year.

“It’s never too early to make sure you’re registered, update your registration information if you need to, and prepare yourself to vote in the upcoming election,” Scott said. “Don’t let the deadline sneak up on you. Get registered and start preparing for the upcoming election today (...).”

To be eligible to vote in the state you must be a U.S. citizen, resident of the county you submit your application, at least 17 years and 10 months old on the date the application is submitted and 18-years-old on election day, not finally convicted of a felony and not declared by a court to be totally or mentally incapacitated or partially mentally incapacitated without the right to vote.

Eligible voters can register to vote by completing a voter registration application and returning it to the Stephens County elections office located at the Stephens County Courthouse. An application can be completed using the Texas Secretary of State’s online voter registration module at vrapp.sos.state. tx.us/index.asp. In-person and online applications must be received by Saturday, Oct 11. Early voting by personal appearance in the November General Elections begins Monday, Oct. 24 and will run through Friday, Nov. 4.

The last day to apply for a ballot received, not postmarked, by mail is Friday, Oct. 28. The last day to receive a ballot by mail is at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 8, if the carrier envelope is not postmarked, or at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 9 if the carrier envelope is postmarked by 7 p.m. at the location of the election on Election Day, unless overseas or military voter deadlines apply. In order to vote by a ballot by mail, a voter must be 65 or older, be out of the county during voting times, or have a disability which classifies as “a sickness or physical condition that prevents the voter from appearing at the polling place on election day without a likelihood of needing personal assistance or of injuring the voter’s health,” according to the Texas Election Code. “I want to ensure that all Texans are informed, prepared and ready to make their voices heard,” Scott said during a Tuesday, Sept. 20 press conference.

For full listing of state and federal candidates, plus sample ballots, see next week’s edition of the Breckenridge American.