Policy, Advocacy, & Community Engagement

Voting is the way people can help make big decisions in their city, state, and country. When people vote, they help choose leaders and decide on important issues, like schools, healthcare, and laws that affect everyone’s daily life. If you don’t vote, your voice won’t be heard, and others will make choices for you.

Sometimes, people think their vote doesn’t matter, but that is not true. Many elections are decided by just a few votes! Your voice is powerful. Don’t believe the myths. Every vote counts and can make a real difference.

We recommend using My Voter Portal (texas.gov). This user-friendly tool allows you to check your voter registration status, find out where your polling place is located, and get key election dates. It’s a quick way to avoid any surprises on Election Day, ensuring you can exercise your right to vote without any issues.

One million Texans were recently removed from the state’s voter rolls. Most of the removed voters, about 463,000, were placed on the “suspense list.” After a significant purge from the voter rolls in Texas, 6,500 of which Governor Abbott claimed were purged because they were not citizens, an investigation from the Texas Tribune, ProPublica, and Votebeat USA has found “that the Governor’s claims about non-citizens on the rolls appear inflated and, in some cases, wrong.”

Voters may be placed on a suspense list if mail from the voter registrar or a jury summons is returned as undeliverable, or when the registrar suspects a voter’s residence has changed. If this happens, the voter is sent an address confirmation form. They have 30 days to respond, or they’ll need to fill out an address confirmation when voting. If the voter doesn’t respond and skips voting in two consecutive General Elections, their registration is cancelled.

Even if you think your registration is up to date, it’s a good idea to double-check. With varying state laws, there’s always a chance that your voter status could have lapsed or become inactive due to non-participation in recent elections.

Yes! Even if you are suspended, you can still vote. You will simply have to sign a form or two to rectify your information and ask your Election Worker for a provisional ballet at the polls. The rest of the voting process will continue as normal.

However, it is important to know if you are suspended or not, as if you do not vote in this election, you will be completely removed from the voter registry. Go vote and make sure you allot plenty of time for waiting in line and filling out any necessary paperwork.

If you haven’t registered yet, here are two easy options:

• Ask a volunteer Voter Deputy Registrar to help you register to vote. Just send an email or direct message, and they can meet up with you to get you registered. We have VDRs on staff at Prism Health North Texas, and you can reach out at [email protected].
• Print a voter registration application from the Texas Secretary of State website, fill it out, and follow the application instructions to send it in. Don’t forget to add a stamp!

In Texas, a Volunteer Deputy Registrar, not to be confused with a County Deputy Registrar Official, is officially appointed to voluntarily help register eligible Texans to vote – a key way to strengthen democracy at the local level. VDRs can register voters in the county in which they are appointed and may receive appointments in multiple counties.

Some eligible citizens may not feel well enough informed about their candidates to warrant making the effort to confirm their voter status or complete voter registration in the first place. Our PACE team recommends visiting a few websites for quick and easy education. “Who Represents Me?” at https://wrm.capitol.texas.gov/ shows a list of your current representatives and lets you know if they are running for re-election. At Vote USA, you can see a list of all candidates running in your district simply by entering your address.