- August 1, 2016

You Can Now Register To Vote Via Text In Travis County

Excuses for not voting (besides frustration with the current political landscape) have just dropped tremendously, as Travis County has just made it significantly easier to register to vote. Eligible voters can now register to vote using their phones (smart or otherwise) through a new text-based system.

The project to get this new system rolled out, partly to help encourage participation by millennials, was originally spearheaded by former State Senator Joe Christie, reports KUT.

“Forty million of these young adults take no part in choosing their leaders. And I’m not just talking about President, Vice President, Congress — they take no part in choosing their local officials who decide what their children will learn, where they go to school, what kind of school it is,” Christie says.

The system should go a long way in increasing the amount of registered voters in the county, as close to half of millennials are not registered to vote, according to Christie. Unfortunately, the system isn’t quite as simple as a quick text and boom, card-carrying registered voter. It’s basically just a way to order the voter registration card to fill out and drop in the mail. Travis County residents can text the word, “register” to 48683 or “I VOTE.”

At least it’s something that gets us closer to more than half of the rest of the states that allow online voter registration (that’s currently 31 states) and hopefully bump Texas up from its ranking as the 46th worst state for voter turnout (just to put that in context, Louisiana is ranked at #10).

Even if Trump and Clinton make your head spin, keep in mind that voting in local elections is extremely important to your daily existence, and shouldn’t be ignored. For some great unbiased information regarding local elections, check out the thorough website from the League of Women Voters, published just prior to early voting in each election.

Austin Music People just published a snapshot of the current state of voter registration, along with more information about how you can help get more voters registered.

 


Featured photo from Pixabay, Creative Commons licensed