EDINBURG — The last day for Texans to register to vote for the Nov. 8 general election was on Tuesday, and Texas Rising — a project of the Texas Freedom Network — focused on drawing in as many young voters before the deadline.
Representatives carrying clipboards with voter registration forms hovered near the northside entrance of the library at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley on Tuesday afternoon for one of two voter registration drives scheduled on the campus that day.
“Today is the last day to register to vote, and we’re trying to get as many people who aren’t registered to vote to register today because it’s their last opportunity if they want to vote in the general election coming up on November 8,” Stephanie Dominguez, Texas Rising regional field coordinator for Hidalgo County, said.
Just a few steps from the library entrance was a table full of candies, chips, stickers and tote bags used to entice potential voters to register. Registered voters who pledged to vote were also entered into a raffle.
“We chose UTRGV because a lot of our work with Texas Rising is focused on the youth vote — Texans under 30,” Dominguez said. “The reason we chose this campus is because our work is oriented towards young Texas — Texans under 30, specifically. Texans under 30 make up 43% of the state’s population, so if we can get them out here registered to vote and voting, politics can change.”
“They have the power,” she continued. “The youth have the power. That’s specifically why we’re here.”
Along with Texas Turnout, a nonpartisan campaign based in the Rio Grande Valley, Texas Rising representatives offered information for first-time voters.
“UTRGV has incredibly low voter turnout,” Rose Angela Hartford, campaign manager for Texas Turnout, said. “Statistically, from the last primary election, it was less than 4% of students who were voting. Our focus is looking at the students who are already here. They’re already going to be in this space for the library. We can capture so many groups of people who may otherwise not be in contact with someone who’s discussing a voting plan.”
Hartford said that the goal of Texas Turnout is to ensure that the voter turnout in the Rio Grande Valley at large is much greater than it has been in previous elections.
During the 2020 General Election, the county left over 43% of ballots on the table when only 222,593 people voted of the 392,604 registered voters.
For the upcoming election, the county already reported a jump in registration of more than 20,000. According to the county’s Elections Department website, there were 415,758 registered voters in Hidalgo County as of Tuesday afternoon.
“Statistically speaking, the voter turnout in the RGV is among the lowest in the entire state of Texas,” Hartford said. “I feel that is why a lot of local issues are not represented on a state level, because we are ignored since we are not an active voting power. They don’t see us as an important region.”
With the lone gubernatorial debate between Gov. Greg Abbott and challenger Beto O’Rourke being held recently at UTRGV, Hartford said that the Rio Grande Valley remains a strategic crossroads for many political focuses.
“We know they are listening and paying attention,” she continued. “Now we just need to make sure that people are voting.”
Tuesday’s voter registration drive was one of many happening throughout the state of Texas, including UTRGV’s Brownsville campus. Hartford said that the goal was to register at least 150 new voters before the looming deadline.
Taunia Velasco, 19, of San Antonio was one of those newly registered voters. She said that she’d already filled out a voter registration form and had planned to mail it, but when she saw the opportunity to register while on campus, she decided to go ahead and complete the voter registration process.
When asked about what inspired her to register to vote, she said that she is interested in the gubernatorial race, specifically the opportunity to vote Abbott out of office.
“I personally am liberal, not because I’m against Republican views,” Velasco said. “I just think they’re not focused on human rights. You need to focus on the people before you get into the politics or monetary issues.”
Phillip Rodriguez, 24, of San Benito was another newly registered voter. He said that immigration and school shootings were among the important issues that he is focused on for the upcoming general election.
“I think that’s a huge thing in Texas,” Rodriguez said. “I know that gun laws are a lot more liberal in Texas, so it’s a lot more debated in Texas than in other places. I’m on the fence, but I think I align more with Greg Abbott’s views.”
Rodriguez said that he hadn’t planned on registering to vote, but he was motivated to do so when he saw the voter registration drive taking place on campus.
“I think it’s pretty awesome because I wasn’t going to if they didn’t ask me,” Rodriguez said. “I think it’s good. I didn’t even know it was the last day (to register to vote) either.”
