Travis County Tax OfficeOctober 6, 2022
The last chance to register to vote in the Nov. 8 election is Tuesday (Oct.11).
The Travis County Tax Office’s Voter Registration Division provides an online map showing where to find 112 voter registration locations and the times they are available. The locations start Friday (Oct. 7) and run through the weekend leading up to deadline day. The map is accessible through TravisCountyTax.org and VoteTravis.com. Or use the direct link, https://traviscountytx.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/portfolio/index.html?appid=b1947da079a4413a8ced28e4d6c1c82e.
The ballot is full of important choices, from electing seven statewide seats, including the governor’s office along with congressional, legislative, municipal and school board seats. Some communities also placed bond elections on the ballot.
“All elections are important, but we are hoping for a higher than usual turnout for the midterm and the first step in making that happen is to register as many eligible voters as possible,” said Bruce Elfant, the Travis County voter registrar and tax assessor-collector. “With our tremendous growth attracting many people from other states to move here, we are working to make sure they know voter registration is handled through the tax office and where they can find a voter registration location.”
Travis County has more than 4,000 volunteer deputy registrars who are qualified to register voters.
Elfant encourages every voter to check their voter registration status at VoteTravis.com. “If you are registered to vote, you want to make sure your voter registration information is correct,” he said.
A new state law allows Texans to change their address online, providing they moved within the state. It is not uncommon for people who move to forget to update their voter registration information. Travis County residents can update their address at https://txapps.texas.gov/tolapp/sos/SOSACManager. For those voters registered in another county that moved to Travis and do not have their Voter Unique Identification (VUID) number, they can find it at https://teamrv-mvp.sos.texas.gov/MVP/mvp.do.
The only online voter registration allowed in Texas is available when renewing a driver’s license at the Texas Department of Public Safety.
The state requires the tax office manually input voter registration applications into the voter roll, which is then sent to the Texas Secretary of State’s office for approval. Once the registrations are certified by the state office, they are sent back to the tax office.
“One of the most important things you can do when filling out a voter registration application is to make sure all your information is legible,” Elfant said. “You would not believe how hard it is to decipher some people’s handwriting and you can make sure all your information is put into the voter registration roll accurately by carefully filling out the application.”
Elfant warns it is too close to the voter registration deadline to count on the Postal Service to stamp mailed applications Oct. 11 or sooner.
“This is important because we cannot accept voter registration applications postmarked after Oct. 11. You will still be registered to vote but will not be eligible to do so for the Nov. 8 midterm election,” he said. “The best thing you can do is drop off your completed application at our headquarters or any of our five branch offices located throughout the county.”
Early voting will run from Oct. 24 to Nov. 4. Election Day is Nov. 8.