Students take advantage of early voting benefits

Early voting in Texas began on Monday, allowing citizens and students the chance to cast their ballots before Election Day.

Early voting in Texas allows voters to cast their vote at the nearest voting station in their county. VoteTexas.gov states, "vote at a location in your political subdivision that’s close to where you live or work." This is an advantage to many who work or live away from their voting precinct, like many students at Sam Houston State University.

For most students, it’s not easy to make a trip to their home county. The federal government allows voters to mail-in their vote during early voting, as long as the application is post-dated by November 7.

"Early voting is good because you can get it done and out of the way in case [you’re busy] on that Tuesday," Brittany Walter, a sophomore criminal justice major, said.

Walter, who lives outside of Walker County, noted the benefit of the mail-in vote was that students can still cast their vote even if they can’t do it in their home county.

For other students, early voting provides a way to work in the time to vote in between tests, homework and working hours.

"[Voting early] is good especially if you’re a full time college student and working part-time…," Michelle Fernandez, freshman business major, said.

 "You don’t have to sacrifice on or the other to take part in voting, which is something really important."

Early voting is a fairly recent idea that sets out to encourage constituents to participate in elections by giving them more time to vote other than the unconventional "Tuesday after the first Monday of November," as mandated by Congress.

According to a report on KUHF in Houston, a record 13.64 million voters have registered and are expected to vote in Texas this year for this year’s election.

Early voting in Walker County will run through Nov. 2. Those voting in Walker County will go to the Walker County Annex at 1301 Sam Houston Ave. Room 101. Voting takes place from 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday with two 12 hour days on Oct. 23 and 30.

For more information visit www.huntsvilletx.gov.