Monday, September 17, 2012

Are You Ready For Voting To Start In Just 34 Days?

Early voting for the November 6, 2012 General Election starts in just 34 days, on Monday October 22, 2012. To vote early or on November 6th, you must be registered to vote or have mailed your new voter registration application to your county's election office by midnight October 9, 2012. November 6, 2012 General Election Information for Collin County:

Sample Registration Card for Collin Co., TXIf you did not received your new yellow 2012-13 voter registration card sometime during the last six months, you may not be registered to vote in the county where you currently reside. You must be registered to vote in the county where you currently reside in order to vote.

Even if you did receive your yellow 2012-13 voter registration card in April, your registration may have since been canceled, if you received, but did not respond to a letter from your county elections office. You should immediately check your registration status and take action to properly register, if you find you are not registered to vote in the county where you reside.

To check your Collin Co. registration status - click here. To check your registration status in any other Texas county - click here. If you find you are not registered to vote, you can find the Voter's Registration application by clicking here. (More details available at Your 2012 Collin Co. Voter Registration Card ~ NPR: Texans Bereaved Over 'Dead' Voter Purge ~ Ignore A Letter From The Elections Office And Get Purged From Voting.)

If you are not registered to vote in the county where you currently reside, but you recently moved from another Texas county where you are still registered to vote, it is illegal under Texas election law for you to return to your previous county of residence to cast a ballot. However, during early voting, and only during early voting, you may vote a "limited ballot" containing statewide and national candidates by appearing in person at the main election early voting location in the county where you currently reside.

Texas did not receive administrative or judicial preclearance by the Department of Justice or federal court for Senate Bill 14, the state's voter photo I.D. law, as explained in the Texas Secretary of State's August 30, 2012 press release. This means that the current law still applies to November 6, 2012 elections. To cast a ballot in person for the November 6th General Election during Early Voting or on Election Day, voters can present their voter registration card, or in lieu of a voter registration card, at least one of the following:

  • A driver's license or personal identification card issued to you by the Texas Department of Public Safety. You may also bring a similar document issued to you by an agency of another state, even if the license or card has expired;
  • A form of identification that contains your photograph and establishes your identity;
  • A birth certificate or other document confirming birth that is admissible in a court of law and establishes the person’s identity;
  • Your United States citizenship papers;
  • Your United States passport;
  • Official mail addressed to you by a governmental entity; or
  • A copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document that shows your name and address.

For more details about current identification requirements, see Need ID information

If you are age 65 or older, or you will be out of your county of residence during early voting and on election day you may request an Application for Ballot by Mail (ABBM) from your county's Early Voting Clerk, or the Texas Secretary of State's website. Once received, read the instructions carefully, complete the ABBM form and return it to the Early Voting Clerk. For the November 6, 2012 Election, the first day to submit an ABBM to the early voting clerk was September 7, 2012; the last day (or deadline) to submit an ABBM is October 30, 2012---this is not a postmark date---the ABBM must be received in the office of the early voting clerk by October 30, 2012 in order for you to receive a ballot by mail.

Collin County will again have countywide "voting center" polling locations on Election Day, November 6th, 2012. Election Day vote centers work like Early Voting polling locations where voters living anywhere in Collin County may vote at any of the 67 Election Day voting centers located around the county.

Seven other counties in Texas also had previously met requirements to form super precincts, or countywide "voting center" polling locations, for general elections, including: Erath, Floyd, Gaines, Galveston, Lubbock, Midland and Travis. The Texas Secretary of State earlier this month also approved the use of county wide polling places in Lampasas County for the November 6th, 2012 General Election. Lubbock County was the first to implement countywide Election Day polling locations in 2006 after the 79th Texas Legislature passed House Bill 758 establishing the program.

Year Total
Reg
Voters
Voting
Age
Pop
Total
Votes
Cast
%
Reg
Voters
Casting
Ballot
Total
Votes
Cast
On
ED
%
Votes
Cast
On
ED
Total
Votes
Cast
Early
%
Total
Vote
Cast
Early
Nov-00 300,426
177,673 59.1% 102,429 57.7% 75,244 42.3%
Nov-04 369,412
246,617 66.8% 96,616 39.2% 150,001 60.8%
Nov-08 425,994 540,000 298,647 70.1% 87,010 29.1% 211,637 70.9%
Nov-12 439,000 560,000





Collin Co. Presidential Year General Election Turnout History

Voter turnout strength for the 2012 General Election is anybody's guess.

Most are hoping for strong voter turnout, but few outside of the tea party ranks are willing to express confidence that turnout will be strong.

For the November 2010 General Election, 13,269,233 people were registered to vote in Texas out of a voting age population (VAP) of 18,789,238 Texans. That gave a VAP registration rate of 71 percent. But only 4,979,870 people voted in the 2010 election, giving a turnout rate of 38 percent of registered voters and a weak 21 percent of the voting age population. That left Texas last among all the states for midterm election turnout. But Texas has been at the bottom of the list of states for election turnout for years. The percentage of voting age Texans who voted in the last three presidential elections has hovered at 45 percent, give or take a point.

In 2008, Collin County beat the state in turnout with 70 percent of registered voters and 55 percent of voting age persons turning out to vote. The trend for early voting across Texas has increased consistently every election cycle over the last 15 years. Collin County voters particularly like to vote early with about 71 percent of the people who voted in 2008 voting early.

Year Registered
Voters
Total
Votes
Cast
%
Reg
Voters
Casting
Ballots
Voting
Age
Pop
%
Voting
Age
Persons
Who
Voted
ED
Votes
Cast
%
Votes
Cast
On
ED
EV
Votes
Cast
%
Votes
Cast
Early
Nov-00 12,365,235 6,407,637 51.8 14,479,609 44.3 3,909,072 61.0% 2,498,565 39.0%
Nov-04 13,098,329 7,410,749 56.6 16,071,153 46.1 3,611,625 48.7% 3,799,124 51.3%
Nov-08 13,575,062 8,077,795 59.5 17,735,442 45.6 2,716,135 33.6% 5,361,660 66.4%
Texas Presidential Year General Election Turnout History

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