Meagan Walters

Feb. 5 is the deadline to register to vote in the March 5 primary elections, and student organizations are working on campus to register eligible voters.

Texas Rising TXST and College Democrats at Texas State began holding voter registration tables to increase student political engagement.

“A lot of times young people today [are] disappointed with politics,” Adriana Montoya, a member of Texas Rising and deputized voter registrar, said. “But, you see the effects of your vote in city council, county commissioner and state legislative races, so it’s really important for young people to realize how much power their vote has.”

According to Campus Vote Project, students who live in university resident halls can choose whether to vote in Hays County or the county in which their permanent address is located.

Students can register to vote through the Secretary of State website then mailing the application to their county election office, a printed application or by contacting their local voter registrar.

Jake Wildenstein, the political director of College Democrats at Texas State, said he registers students to vote to increase turnout and political engagement among college students.

“The most important part is getting people registered to vote,” Wildenstein said. “We have pretty low voter turnout nationwide, so [I do] whatever I can do to get that improved.”

According to the Secretary of State, about 18% of registered voters, voted in the 2022 primary elections, a statistic Montoya wants to change.

Primaries are elections in which voters cast their decision on which candidate gets their political party’s official nomination in the November general election. Sample ballots for the Hays County primaries are available on the county’s election webpage.

Primary elections in Texas are open, meaning voters can choose to vote on a ballot with either the Democratic or Republican candidates without being a registered member of the political party.

More information on how to register to vote can be found at Votetexas.gov.

Editor’s note: Clarity for registering to vote online has been added; one must mail their application to their county’s election office after filling it out online.