CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The deadline to register for the March 1 primary election is Monday, Jan. 31.
This week, the League of Women Voters of Corpus Christi was on campus at Texas A&M - Corpus Christi registering people to vote.
“It’s important for young people to be registered to vote, and not only registered, to actually vote,” said VP of voter services, Paula Breighton. “We’re just hoping to spark that idea in their mind that there is an election coming up, and they need to be thinking about voting.”
One of the students who registered Friday was Eduardo Cardenas.
“I just saw the sign, and I knew I wasn’t registered, I didn’t have anything to do, I had free time, and it’s something that can help me and my community, so I just decided to do it,” he said.
Cardenas said it’s important to vote, especially for people in his generation.
“We have to establish the foundations of our future,” he said.
Emily Salazar, another TAMU-CC student, also expressed the importance of voting.
“It is so important for us to vote, especially here in Corpus Christi. I’m a Corpus Christi native, so seeing this here, that’s encouraging people to vote; yes I’m already registered, but I can encourage my friends, so we can all get involved politically,” she said. “We really are the future, so our opinion really matters, and our choices.”
While LWV did register many people this week, they can’t ensure that those who do register actually go out and vote. Breighton said she tries to encourage those who do sign up, and ones who were already registered, to go out and vote.
“I think it’s just important for people to come out and vote. Your vote is your voice,” she said.
In Nueces County, voter turnout is historically lower in years without a presidential election. Breighton said that can be attributed, in part, to races where people believe one candidate is going to win.
“Sometimes districts get to be very comfortable, and the races get to be very predictable,” she said. “So, that doesn’t encourage a whole lot of voter turnout, when people feel like they already know before the race is even run, which party or which candidate will win.”
Breighton said redistricting in Texas might help with voter turnout across the state.
“We’ve also been very interested in the redistricting effort, trying to educate people on that, and hoping that if things change, that people will be much more energized to vote if the races become more competitive again,” she said.
