The last chance to register to vote in the Nov. 5 election is Monday. And there’s another wrinkle for some: This is the first statewide election that requires voters to show photo ID.
If you don’t have one of six approved government-issued photo IDs to bring with you to vote on Nov. 5, you can get an election ID certificate. I spoke to Travis County Voter Registrar Bruce Elfant at a Fiesta supermarket in South Austin, where he was getting the word out near a table set up by Department of Public Safety staff.
"This is one of the parts of town where we have the heaviest concentration of registered voters who don’t appear to have the proper ID in order to vote," he said.
Elfant says the Texas Secretary of State’s office found 37,000 registered voters in Travis County who didn’t appear to have the right photo IDs. In Texas, a voter registration card is no longer enough. That worries Elfant.
"In this busy world, with people with their jobs and families and health issues, I’m concerned that not everybody is going to be able to make the time to figure this out," Elfant said. "We certainly want everybody who’s eligible to vote to participate in their democracy."
Monday, Oct. 7, is the deadline to register.
You can find locations to get an election identification certificate here on Friday and Monday, at the bottom of the page. On Saturday you can go to drivers license offices.
