Voter registration has hit a record high statewide and Denton residents, particularly those younger than 25, did their part to boost the numbers.
The Texas Secretary of State’s office announced Thursday a record high of 14,025,441 Texans who have registered to vote in time for the gubernatorial election. The previous record came in 2012 when 13,646,226 Texans registered to vote in time for the presidential election.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, about 26.4 million people live in Texas. Census officials estimate that 26.6 percent of Texans, or about 7 million, are younger than 18.
In Denton County, 11,662 people have registered to vote since July 15, according to county elections data. Local efforts to register young voters may have contributed to that increase, for about 17 percent of those newly registered are 18 years old.
At Marcus High School in Flower Mound, for example, two high school civics teachers, Emily Worland and Carey Petkoff, also volunteer as deputy voter registrars. They recently started giving their students a Texas voter registration application on their 18th birthdays along with a grab bag of civic-related items. In two months, they helped 20 students register.
However, those numbers pale in comparison to voter registration efforts in the city of Denton where nearly three times as many residents have registered to vote as in Lewisville, about three and one-half times as many as in Frisco and Carrollton, and nearly five times as many as in Flower Mound.
Hundreds of those new voters show addresses on the University of North Texas campus. The Student Government Association made it a project to get students registered to vote and also helped secure an early voting location on campus for the first time in many years.
County elections officials have set up a polling location during the second week of early voting, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Oct. 27-31 at Sycamore Hall.
Groups also took voter registration drives to Texas Woman’s University. In all, 3,527 people have registered to vote in Denton in the past 12 weeks, with 2,380 of them age 25 or younger.
Republican Greg Abbott and Democrat Wendy Davis are racing for governor along with Libertarian Kathie Glass and Green Party candidate Brandon Parmer. In addition to the statewide races, the city of Denton has seven propositions on the ballot, some of which will likely be of interest to younger voters.
Two citizen initiatives, one to ban hydraulic fracturing and another to legalize liquor sales citywide, are on the ballot. Four separate propositions, if approved, would provide for $98.2 million in capital improvement bonds, the majority of which would repair city streets.
In addition, the city is asking voters to declare a small portion of the southwest side of North Lakes Park as surplus land. If voters agree, the city is expected to work with a local developer that wants to buy the land in exchange for cash and another small parcel on the northeast side of the park.
Early voting begins Monday at 21 locations around the county. Extended hours on several days at many locations make it easy for people to vote before or after work on a weekday, and even on the weekend.
Denton County voters may cast their ballot at any early voting location. Some form of official photo identification will be required of those who vote in person.
Those include several different forms of photo identification issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety (a Texas driver’s license, personal identification card, concealed handgun license and election identification certificate) or the federal government (passport, citizenship certificate or military identification).
MAIL-IN BALLOTS
Friday is the in-office deadline for a mail-in ballot. Voters with a disability, those who are age 65 and older, or who will be away during the election may apply. For information, call the Denton County elections office at 940-349-3200.
