How to register, vote during COVID-19

Omar E. Zapata | THE RIDER

With Election Day fast approaching, elections administrators in Hidalgo and  Cameron counties are reminding citizens that the deadline to register to vote or to make changes to one’s voter registration is Oct 5. 

They also explained how voting will be conducted for the Nov. 3 election amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Remi Garza, Cameron County elections administrator, told The Rider that the county’s election website has the application online as well as instructions on how to mail it in. He also said people have the option of going to the Cameron County elections office, located at 1050 E. Madison St. in Brownsville, and filling out the form there. 

Garza said he thinks Cameron County will have one of the highest turnouts in county history this election season. 

“In 2016, we had about 185,000 registered voters,” he said. “Right now, Cameron County has over 215,500 registered voters.” 

Yvonne Ramón, Hidalgo County elections administrator, said that voter registration information and instructions can be found on the county’s website, as well, and stressed the importance of the application to be filled out correctly. 

As of last Wednesday, Hidalgo County had 384,744 registered voters, according to its Elections Department website. 

Early voting starts Oct. 13 and ends Oct. 30. Election Day is Nov. 3. 

Voters in both counties have three voting options: at polling locations, curbside voting and mail-in ballots. 

In Cameron County, 21 early voting and about 70 Election Day polling sites will be available. 

In Hidalgo County, Ramón said the list of voting sites will be finalized by mid-September but, hopefully, there will be about 30 for early voting and 73 for Election Day.

Garza said the  UTRGV Brownsville campus will not serve as an early voting or Election Day polling location this year. The Cameron County Commissioners Court voted on Aug. 11 to move the polling location to Texas Southmost College’s Jacob Brown Auditorium after the college requested their facility to be used as an early voting location. 

Ramón said the UTRGV Edinburg campus will serve as an early voting and Election Day polling location. 

 Both counties have a countywide voting policy, which means registered voters may cast a ballot at any voting location in their county. 

Garza said Cameron County is trying to make this election like any other while also practicing social distancing, wearing protective personal equipment and disinfecting polling locations on a regular basis. 

Ramón said similar protocols will be implemented in Hidalgo County. It will have disposable styluses to minimize touching and will provide masks if a voter does not have one. 

To request a mail-in ballot, voters must be 65 years or older, have a disability, be confined in prison or jail with the right to vote, or be out of the county during early voting or Election Day. 

The deadline to request a mail-in ballot is Oct. 23, and Ramón encourages voters to mail it as soon as possible. 

“We are not in control of how quickly [they] process this ballot and deliver it to our office,” she said, referring to the U.S. Postal Service.

Sylvia Gonzalez-Gorman, an assistant professor of political science, said she believes mail-in ballots are a valid option for everyone, especially during a pandemic.

“I think mail-in ballots have been found to be very valid,” said Gonzalez-Gorman. “They’re not fraudulent at all. … Other states have mail-in voting, and they’ve had it for years … and the cases of fraud are minimal.”

She said mail-in ballots have been politicized by the Trump administration, which argues that mail-in voting is fraudulent. 

Ramón said it is important that registered voters become informed of who and what is on their ballot this year since there is no more straight-party voting and will need to select their choice race by race. 

“In the past, you were able to choose your party and the machine, or the ballot would automatically select all of the races under that particular party,” she said. 

Ramón said knowing who you will vote for before showing up to a polling location will help speed up the process and reduce long lines. 

Gonzalez-Gorman said, historically, the Rio Grande Valley has low voting rates, and this is a result of various factors. 

“Low socio-economic communities don’t vote at high rates that other communities do. Why?” she said.  “Because they’re more focused on work, they can’t take time off,  they’ve got children to take care of, so sometimes they don’t get out to the polls.” 

Gonzalez-Gorman also said that the lack of political education and apathy to voting or people thinking, “Does my vote even matter?” are also factors that contribute to this. 

Ramón said one of the things she dislikes is hearing people say, “Why should I vote if my vote does not count?” 

“That is absolutely not true because we are strong in numbers and one thing that keeps the Rio Grande Valley from being … a strong voice is the fact that our voting numbers have consistently been low,” she said. 

Ramón said she welcomes UTRGV students to help Hidalgo County during this election by working at a polling location. 

For more information on how to register to vote and other election information, visit https://www.hidalgocounty.us/105/Elections-Department  or https://www.cameroncounty.us/elections/.