WACO, Texas — The Texas midterm election is on November 8th, but now is the time to register to vote.
"It's important the people get registered to vote, they take advantage of the fact they get to choose their leaders," McLennan County Election Administrator Jared Goldsmith said. "Not everyone in the world gets that right and it's not something that should be taken lightly or for granted."
Advocates across the state are encouraging everyone to vote in every election this year, including local ones that don't usually see a high turnout.
"Your voice is truly heard at the local level," Goldsmith said. "Your voice is much louder at the local level. There typically isn't as high a turn out in those local elections, but they do effect you in a very direct way."
While it is crucial for everyone to do their part of registering, it's also important that election officials keep the records updated. Secretary of State John Scott shared how they do it in a video released earlier this month.
"That's where your county commissioners get elected," League of Women Voters President Joyce Lebombard said. "That's where the judges get elected, where the school board gets elected. So it really has more impact on people's individual lives."
Scott said between 10,000 and 15,000 deceased voters are removed each month. They also remove tens of thousands of duplicate registrations that are made when people move.
"Voter registration can also be canceled when a voter is serving time for a felony conviction, a non us citizen, or declared mentally incompetent," Scott said in the video. "We work with all 254 counties to make sure they have an updated list of eligible voters for every election."
To ensure you are on that list, you can check your registration at VoteTexas.gov.
The last day to register is on October 11th.
