Pioneers Vote! Make your voice heard

Sept 18. 2020 - DENTON - Texas Woman's was recently hailed as one of the “Best Colleges for Student Voting” according to Washington Monthly, and to keep the streak going, the TWU Civic Engagement Task Force continues to work to keep students informed about the upcoming election and voter registration options and deadlines.

"In addition to events leading up to this year's presidential election, we are also discussing some post election events to help students unpack the outcomes," said Stephanie Krauth, associate vice president for student engagement who also serves as chair of the Civic Engagement Task Force. "As we get closer to the election and states decide their return policies for mail-in ballots, we will have additional details."

Krauth emphasized that in order to vote, however, students must first REGISTER TO VOTE with local election authorities (before October 5 in Texas) to participate in the November election. Students are also encouraged to find out if they are already registered, where polling sites are located and information about local elections.

You are eligible to vote in Texas if:

You are a U.S. Citizen,
You are a resident of Texas,
AND you will be 18 years old or older by November 3, 2020.

To facilitate the registration process, the task force encourages students to register with register2vote.org or Turbovote. Turbovote is an online form that streamlines the voter registration process and provides information about election reminders, absentee ballots and more.

Students who use either option will complete the registration form. The form can be returned via mail or can be printed out immediately. Additionally, mail in forms can be found at the Center for Politics & Public Policy, the Center for Student Development and voter registration tables in Denton as well as the Student Life Office in Houston. Students can then turn in or mail the completed voter registration forms to following locations:

Denton - Denton County Elections, 701 Kimberly Drive, Suite A101, Denton, TX 76208
Houston - Harris County Tax Office, 1001 Preston St., Houston, TX 77002
Dallas - Dallas County Elections Department, 1520 Round Table Drive, Dallas, TX 75247

Texas voting laws allow students who live on campus to use the residence hall address when registering to vote. Denton campus residence hall addresses follow:

Guinn Hall - 420 E. University Drive, Denton, TX, 76204
Stark Hall - 1719 Bell Ave., Denton, TX, 76204
Parliament Village - 703 Administration Drive, Denton, TX, 76204
Lowry Woods - 1600 Oakland Ave., Denton, TX, 76204

Note that some residence halls have different mailing addresses than the physical location.

While the Presidential election gets most of the attention, keep in mind that many of the decisions that most greatly affect your daily life are made at the state and local level, so it's important to know who represents you at every level.

For students who have questions, would like to talk to someone in person or are interested in civic engagement activities on campus, be sure to take advantage of the following events:

National Voter Registration Day, Sept. 22
Debate Watch Party, Sept. 29
Voter Registration Tables, Sept. 24, Sept. 28, Sept. 29, Sept. 30, Oct. 1, Oct. 2
The Growing Political Power of Women of Color, Oct. 7

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Page last updated 12:36 PM, September 18, 2020