WACO, Texas (KXXV) — Baylor University is stepping up to help students register to vote.
- National Voter Registration Day is September 17
- McLennan County sees increase in registered voters in 2024
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
“It is a rite of passage, and it is the first time for a lot of people,” Mikey Condon, Baylor Junior, said.
McLennan County is seeing a major increase in registered voters this year. Now, Baylor University is stepping up to help students register to vote.
“So, we’re tabling in five locations across campus tomorrow and at each table, we have a volunteer deputy registrar who’s able to register people to vote physically there on campus,” Emma Lischka, a Baylor Senior, said.
Baylor student government and Baylor ambassadors are teaming up to help our students through registration.
“One thing that’s really interesting is about a little bit over 40% of our student body is from out of state, so we wanted to provide opportunities for our students who are from out of state, in state, to be able to vote in the November election,” Condon said.
The tables will be set up on Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“It was really important for us in this election year to make sure people knew how to engage on campus,” Lischka said.
I spoke with McLennan County elections administrator Jared Goldsmith about the voter turnout in our community.
“We’re right at 157,000 registered voters so that’s the most McLennan County, like I said, has ever seen,” McLennan County elections administrator Jared Goldsmith said.
This is more than our last presidential election year in 2020.
“I think we were around 145,000 so I don’t have the exact number, but we have grown, you know, fairly significantly over the past four years,” Goldsmith said.
Goldsmith tells me several factors contribute to the increase in registered voters. One of those is the population growth throughout the county.
“There’s obviously more interest in the election this year because it is a presidential election year,” Goldsmith said. “Now is the time to get registered to vote or make any of those changes.”
For more on registering to vote in Texas, click here.
