By Matt Kyle | Staff Writer
Voters in Texas will make decisions on a series of constitutional amendments Tuesday. There are also several local government seats in contention on Election Day, including the race for the mayor of West and a few city council seats in Robinson.
Registered voters can cast their ballots at these locations, which will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Murrietta, Calif., junior Ken Hollingsworth, vice chair of the Bull Moose Society, said local elections are important to participate in because they are the elections that will affect citizens more often.
“These are the elections that the ramifications are going to affect your day-to-day life the most,” Hollingsworth said. “Your city council is going to make the ordinances and such that affect how you get around in your city. Especially right now in the COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of COVID-19 issues have been delegated to the city level.”
San Antonio junior Alice Shelly, president of the College Democrats of Baylor, said she believes local elections are just as important as presidential elections.
“You should jump on this huge chance to get your voice heard,” Shelly said. “The voter turnout is very low for these elections — about 20% typically. If [you’re] registered to vote in McLennan County, then [you] should be voting in these elections. It’s not hard to do.”
While voter turnout is generally higher in midterm and presidential elections, Hollingsworth said local elections are still a great way for voters to make their voices heard.
“This is another opportunity to participate in the great democratic ability that you have as a U.S. citizen,” Hollingsworth said. “You have the ability to vote on these eight propositions and decide whether you want to see them enacted in the state of Texas or not. You can’t be a non-participant and still criticize the issues that you see. If you want to criticize, I believe that you should also be actively making your voice heard through the democratic process of voting.”
Shreveport, La., junior Veronica Penales, the coalition and outreach officer for Texas Rising at Baylor, said it is important for college students to update their voter registration to reflect where they are living for college.
“It’s very important for college students especially to register in the county that they are attending university in,” Penales said. “We live here for four years, and we affect the issues that are affecting the community. Especially in a time like COVID, especially in a political climate like today — we affect the issues locally and probably more so than the actual local community members. So if we’re not voting here, and kind of using our voices to affect the issues that affect us while we’re here for four years, then why?”
Penales said that smaller issues on the ballot in local elections have ramifications for local communities and that the smaller issues can have an impact on bigger issues.
“Smaller issues affect the bigger issues, and it’s the smaller issues that affect smaller communities like the Waco community,” Penales said. “Any election is an important election, and you have the right to vote so you can participate locally and nationally. Don’t discount a smaller election just because it doesn’t have national news or coverage. Every single election is important because every issue is important.”
