Early voting starts today for the Nov. 5 election on 10 state constitutional amendments and local municipal posts, and a study shows the UTRGV community is above the national average for institutions in casting ballots.
UTRGV’s voting rate in 2018 increased 26.9% from 2014 and was 4.1% above the national rate for all educational institutions, according to the National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement.
“Historically, both Texas and the [Rio Grande] Valley just does not have strong voter registration or voter turnout numbers,” said Veronica De La Garza, UTRGV director of Governmental and Community Relations.
Only six of 10 residents vote in Texas and in the Rio Grande Valley, it is four of 10.
Asked why it is important for numbers to go up, De La Garza replied, “Our voter registration numbers increasing and our voter turnout numbers increasing also shows that as a community of young people and a community as a whole in the Valley, that we are civically involved.”
In 2014, the voting rate for all institutions was 16.3%. By comparison, the rate for legacy institutions University of Texas at Brownsville and University of Texas-Pan American was 12.9%, according to De La Garza. However, in 2018, UTRGV’s rate was 43.2%, which is 4.1% above the national voting average for all institutions, according to the study.
“We’ve seen a lot of activity with respect to voter registration occurring on the campuses and so we think that is gonna transfer to participation at the polls,” said Remi Garza, Cameron County elections administrator.
De La Garza said when UTRGV came into existence in 2015, faculty, staff and student organizations believed voter registration was in need in the community and wanted to incorporate it into the culture of UTRGV.
In response, the university established Vaqueros Vote, a nonpartisan initiative that aims to get the student body, faculty and staff registered to vote.
De La Garza said it is a collective effort among faculty, staff and student organizations that are making a change.
“They have loved being on our campus and seeing the voting numbers go up,” she said about the election offices of Cameron and Hidalgo counties.
“We’re expecting to see a slight increase over that turnout given the recent increase in participation we’ve seen in the past few elections,” said Remi Garza. “I’m expecting somewhere between 7,000 and 10,000 people.”
In 2018, UTRGV had an estimated eligible voting student population of 26,777. Of these, 20,564 were registered to vote, but only 11,563 voted.
“You guys are a huge voting bloc of young people and are really framing the issues that need to be addressed here in the Valley,” De La Garza said. “So, by voting you’re showing ‘Hey, we are a voting bloc and we are participating and we are interested and we’re also gonna be holding our elected officials accountable.’”
On Nov. 5, Texas voters will decide whether to pass 10 constitutional amendments and De La Garza encourages people to take some time to look up what issues are coming up and set aside some time to go out and vote.
“Don’t forget how important your vote is and how many people have died for it throughout the years,” she said.
Asked why it is important to vote, mass communication sophomore Christian Garcia replied, “It’s important to vote because it gives
us, the people, our own chance to change things.”
Among the 10 state constitutional amendments on the Nov. 5 ballot:
–Proposition 1: Permitting a person to hold more than one office as a municipal judge at the same time.
–Proposition 4: Prohibiting the imposition of an individual income tax, including a tax on an individual share of partnership and unincorporated association income.
–Proposition 8: Providing for the creation of the flood infrastructure fund to assist in the financing of drainage, flood mitigation and flood control projects.
Voters in Edinburg, Weslaco, La Joya, Edcouch and Alamo will also cast ballots for municipal posts.
The Student Union on the Edinburg campus is one of the polling locations for early voting in Hidalgo County.
