The 2022 elections are well underway, but it’s not too late to formulate a plan and get out to vote, Texans! You have until November 4th to skip the long lines and vote early, otherwise you’ll need to vote on Election Day with is November 8th, 2022. Below are some helpful links and other information so you’re prepared to hit the polls!
Where Can I Vote?
Check your early voting and polling locations as well as other voter registration by checking the Texas Secretary of State’s website here and use the “Am I Registered?” tool. Keep in mind you’ll already have needed active voter registration or mailed in your new voter registration on or before October 11, 2022 in order to vote for this round of elections (Texas’s rules, not mine). It will also be pertinent to make sure you have a valid form of ID (once again, a TX government rule) before trying to vote. Luckily The Texas Tribune has a list of all the valid forms of identification accepted in order to vote in Texas for the midterms
What’s on my Ballot?
Usually your county’s government website will have a sample ballot for you to view so you can prepare before you actually head to the polls. You can also use non-profit organization online ballot lookup tools such as Vote411’s online tool or the handy tool found on Texas Tribune’s 2022 Voter Guide. Since ballots will vary based on what county or voting district to which you reside, you’ll need to provide the address where you’re registered to vote to get the most accurate information.
How can I be an Informed Voter?
Now that you know where your closes polling place is and what is on your ballot, how will know how you want to vote? This is a great question to ask, and thank you for wanting to be an informed voter! There are a couple different approaches I’ll detail out below - one general and one more targeted.
Learn About the Different Party Platforms
If you have no idea what party you align with (or maybe you’re just undecided), you may want to take a look at each party’s specific platform to see what values they hold and what their priorities are in the political arena. From my own Texas ballot I found four different parties: Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, and Green. Find the link for each party’s platform below and see what you may share most with each.
Once you have a general idea of how you may align with each party, we can look closer at the candidates on the ballot through voting guides.
Learn About the Candidates
There are a few different organizations in Texas that help create extensive voter guides and gather candidate to help make you as informed of a voter as possible. Here are a few tools and resources that I use whenever voting season approaches:
League of Women Voters (LWV) of Texas - my go-to resource for my vote-planning. I feel this tool is most useful during primary season as that is where we can dig deep to find the candidate that best aligns with our values and views, but this can also be a helpful tool if you’re new to the voting process. Use the Vote411 tool under the “Find what is on your ballot!” section to generate an interactive sample ballot where you can compare candidates. LWV sends out questionnaires to each candidates to see how they’ll tackle political issues across Texas. You can compare candidate responses and select who best aligns with your views. At the end you can have your selections emailed to you so you can print out or save for later.
The Texas Tribune’s Voter Guide - A leading favorite of mine as a transparent Texas news source, the Texas Tribune has a handy tool that shows you the map of each district in which you reside after providing your voter registration address and a list of candidates running for each seat. Although they don’t have as much information on each candidate as LWV, their historical district and voter breakdowns are useful to see the constituent makeup for each voting district.
League of Women Voters & Vote411 Non-Partisan Voters Guide - that sums up this resource. The LWV and Vote411 team up to provide a non-partisan voters guide that lists all eligible candidates for each seat as well as their respective views and plans on what they will do in the position if elected.
VOTE!
By now you should have found your closest early voting location, researched what party you align with most, and determined what candidates for whom you plan to vote. Now just double check you have your valid form of ID and head to the polling place to make your voice heard!
