Volunteers in Denton are gearing up for the upcoming election by registering as many voters as possible by the Texas voter registration deadline on Feb. 3.
Students who registered to vote in their hometowns are being encouraged to register to vote in Denton County and whether it be knocking on doors, sending emails, handing out flyers or tabling, UNT students are getting involved to get out the vote.
“Several of our members are deputy voter registrars, which means they can register their friends, family members and classmates to vote,” Collin Renfro, social media chair for the UNT College Democrats, said.
Both the UNT College Democrats and Young Conservatives of Texas are actively involved in promoting the election in their own ways. For the College Democrats, this means tabling on campus and registering residents of Denton County on the downtown square. The members of the College Democrats who are deputy voter registrars are continuing to register as many people as possible and will do so until Feb. 3.
“To increase voter turnout, we are striving to register as many students to vote as possible,” Renfro said.
The Young Conservatives of Texas have taken a different approach to preparing for the coming election, focusing more on candidates and endorsements than registering voters or increasing turnout. However, they do still plan to register voters in hopes they might vote for YCT-endorsed candidates. YCT plans to be part of a grassroots get-out-the-vote campaign of block-walking with members who will knock on doors to register people to vote.
As of now, YCT has not done any tabling on campus or voter registration events. They plan to focus more on interpersonal one-on-one tactics to hopefully get more people to register to vote.
“The main thing we are doing right now is getting in contact with local candidates,” YCT vice chair Stephen Tykoski said.
Local candidates are promoting voter registration at campaign events as well. State Representative Lynn Stucky keeps voter registration cards with him and his campaign manager at every event he attends to register people to vote at every opportunity.
“It’s important that we take every opportunity recruit new voters and to make the process as easy as possible,” Stucky campaign manager Suzann Woodard said.
With the deadline approaching, there are students who are not aware of how to register or about the election in general.
“No, I wasn’t aware there was an election and I’m not aware of registration deadlines,” psychology junior Jessica Edwards said.
However, there are students who are aware of the election and do plan to vote as they are already registered — some just recently at tabling or voter registration events.
“I do know there’s an election coming up,” communications studies sophomore Anzhelika Vasker said. “I don’t know the deadline to register. I am registered to vote and I plan to vote.”
Featured Illustration: Miranda Thomas