The deadline is fast approaching for residents who want to vote in the March 1 primary elections but have not registered.
The last day to register is Feb. 1. With a presidential election on the ballot, officials are encouraging people who plan to register to do so sooner rather than later.
“Do it as quickly as possible. I recommend either coming straight into our office to do it or go online to get an application and fill it out and then hand carry it to us or put it in the mail,” said Remi Garza, administrator of Cameron County’s Department of Elections and Voter Registration.
There are several ways people can access voter registration applications. They can find the applications on the Election’s Department website, the Texas Secretary of State website or they can visit the county’s Election’s Department in person and fill out an application there.
Applications accessed from the county or state website may be printed out and either taken to the Election’s Department or mailed in.
The county’s Department of Elections and Voter Registration is located at 1050 E. Madison St. in Brownsville.
Garza said he has brought in two additional employees to help process the applications and anticipates it getting busier as the deadline to register gets closer.
“The activity has been increasing not only because the primary is approaching but there is also a presidential election,” Garza said.
Registered voters will not only be casting ballots for a new president, there are several county seats up for election that would not normally be on the ballot this year, Garza said.
“Several county races that normally aren’t on the ballot this time around are on the ballot. For example, the county judge’s race is not normally on this cycle of the primary or the Cameron County Commissioner Precinct 4 is normally not on the ballot,” he said.
In addition, two new Cameron County court-at-law positions are on the ballot, as well as two additional commissioner seats.
“We’ve got a lot more happening on our ballot during this particular primary than we normally would on this cycle,” Garza said.
For more information, contact Cameron County’s Department of Elections and Voter Registration at 956-544-0809.
