Mays Center drives voter participation with road to the polls

In preparation for the midterm elections in November, students can register to vote at Texas A&M University-San Antonio.

The Mays Center for Experiential Learning and Community Engagement will host “Road to The Polls: National Voter Registration Day” 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sept. 15 in the Central Academic Building courtyard. Attendees can check their voter registration, register to vote and learn more about the upcoming midterm elections.

Races on the ballot this year range from Texas governor to local judges to U.S. senator. Oct. 5 is the last day to register to vote in the midterm elections.

Lori Day, assistant director of Civic Engagement at the Mays Center, explained why students should register to vote.

“I think it’s important for students to understand that a lot of the things that they care about, whether maybe it’s the way that they grew up and it’s something they loved about their neighborhood, something they wish they could have changed about their neighborhood, all that plays out in the voting process and how important local elections are,” Day said.

Community organizations such as the Radical Registrars, VIA Metropolitan Transit and MOVE Texas have partnered with the Mays Center for the event. A&M-San Antonio’s Student Government Association and representatives from the University Library will also attend.

All organizations in attendance are nonpartisan.

Students will be able to write postcards to their representatives, contribute to a reflection wall, create their own yard signs and participate in other interactive activities.

Door prizes will be offered for completing a bingo card by speaking to community and campus partners. Winners will be eligible to win university swag and gift cards to local restaurants or coffee shops.

Early voting will be from Oct. 19-30 and Election Day is Nov. 3. The Mays Center, located on the first floor of the Science and Technology Building, will be a polling location operating from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. during early voting and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day. There is no limit on how long one can take to vote.

A sample ballot will be provided to voters before entering the polling site. Voters are able to look up and do more research on the ballot beforehand, and are able to take the sample ballot into the voting site.

Other polling locations near A&M University-San Antonio include Palo Alto College and Mission Branch Library. A full list of polling locations can be found at Bexar County Elections, TX | Official Website.

Only voters registered in Bexar County will be able to vote at the Mays Center or at other polling places in the county. Those registered in other counties must vote where they are registered.

According to Day, there is a common misconception that midterm elections don’t matter as much as general ones.

“In reality, local races are often decided by a few 100 votes. So as a college campus, turning out can genuinely swing an outcome in a way that almost never happens at a presidential level,” Day said.

Day says the League of Women Voters provides comprehensive, nonpartisan voting guides for every election.

“…They always come out with an entire booklet during the election season where they show you everything that’s going to be on the ballot,” Day said. “Every single candidate, every single issue.”

Day says students can find these booklets in the Mays Center, the University Library and the local league’s website closer to Election Day.

Ballotpedia has a full list of positions on the ticket by address. Here, voters can also create a sample ballot they can print and bring with them into the polls.

To check their voter registration, students can visit the Mays Center or check online at IvisMvpUi. Requirements for voter registration can be found at Your Guide to Voting in Texas | VoteTexas.gov. They include being a U.S. citizen, having a Texas residency card and being at least 18 years old by election day.

Below are more nonpartisan voter resources and organizations contributing to this event:

“Every single vote really does matter, so it’s important as well for the young demographic to be able to have their voice heard, because they will be the ones that will get to see and experience that future,” Day said.

Jazlyn Urrutia and Makayla Breiten contributed to this story.