As the Feb. 5 deadline to register to vote for the March 2018 Primary Election approaches, Vaqueros Vote is available to help the campus community and local residents with the process.
Registering to vote by Application for a Ballot by Mail (ABBM) or by Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) for the upcoming Primary Election opened Jan. 1, according to the Texas Secretary of State’s website, www.sos.state.tx.us/elections. Early voting will take place from Feb. 20 to March 2, and the Primary Election is March 6.
Voters will be electing their party’s nominees for offices ranging from U.S. senators, governors and other state office holders, as well as local county officials and judges.
“Every semester, we [help] at least 20 students,” said Cindy Mata-Vasquez, director of Student Activities.
As of November 2016, 17,124 UTRGV students are registered to vote.
Mata-Vasquez also said Vaqueros Vote has facilitated voting since Fall 2015. For help registering, students may contact her or Veronica De La Garza, who is the director of State and Local Governmental Relations at UTRGV.
De La Garza said Vaqueros Vote actively encourages students and professors to register to vote and vote on campus.
“Since UTRGV started … [Vaqueros Vote has been] working with staff, with student groups, with our faculty, and some of our nonpartisan community partners,” she said. “Not just students, but students, faculty and staff to [help] register to vote and then, also go out and vote. … Both of our legacy institutions have had polling booths. I’m working with Hidalgo County and Cameron County to make sure we have our polling issued on both campuses.”
Mata-Vasquez said the organization started as a collaboration between the university and community to help others have their voice heard.
Vaqueros Vote hopes students will utilize the provided resources and vote during the election.
“We really want to make sure that … our UTRGV community is aware that the elections are happening,” De La Garza said. “So, we just encourage everyone to get involved.”
Administrative Manager Gilbert Perez said the university is looking to have early voting stations on both campuses.
Vaqueros Vote does not have an official calendar that lists all dates it will be on campus to help with voting. Its calendar is scheduled to be formed next week, and will decide activities, including registration days and other events during March and April.
Updates on upcoming opportunities and resources provided by Vaqueros Vote may be found on UTRGV Student Life’s Facebook page or on the UTRGV Vaqueros Vote’s website. Students may also expect flyers announcing student activities.
For more information, call the Student Involvement Office at 665-2660 in Edinburg or 882-5111 in Brownsville. Mata-Vasquez may be contacted at 882-7152 or by email at cindy.mata@utrgv.edu. De La Garza may be reached at 665-7373 or through email, veronica.delagarza@utrgv.edu.
