The Cameron County Department of Elections and Voter Registration will continue to accept voter registration applications until 5 p.m. today.
David Garza of Brownsville went to the office Friday afternoon to pick up absentee ballots for his in- laws.
“It is important to vote to get the right people in office so we can get the things we need … and if everyone turns out to vote, we get the right person for the job,” Garza said.
County annex offices are located at 3302 Wilson Road in Harlingen and 1390 W. Expressway 77/83 in San Benito.
Chief deputy Norma Carrillo said the office opened its new location at 50 E. Madison St. last September. The last few weeks have been busy at the office as voters try to register before the deadline. Carrillo said there are 184,612 registered voters in Cameron County. From Jan. 1 through Jan. 29 a total of 536 new voters were registered and another 227 voters updated their address.
Carrillo said voters who submit registration applications received and postmarked after Feb. 1 will be eligible for the next election in May.
Deputy clerk Maribel Diaz said when election season nears residents rush to the office to register even though registration is year ‘round.
“Many people think that it’s only when an election is coming up that you can register but we accept applications all year ‘round, you can even call us and we can mail you an application so you don’t even have to leave your house.” Diaz said.
According to VoteTexas.gov all voters who register to vote in Texas must provide a Texas driver’s license number or personal identification number issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety. If you don’t have such a number, simply provide the last four digits of your Social Security number. If you don’t have a Social Security number, you need to state that fact.
“It takes less than 10 minutes to fill out the application and we can help with the process, but it takes longer when everyone rushes and waits until the last minute to register,” Diaz said.
For more information, call the Cameron County Department of Elections and Voter Registration at 956-544-0809
