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Voting Planner

People are much more likely to follow through with an intended activity if they have a good plan to engage in that activity. This also holds true for voting. Make a plan now for voting so you can anticipate and address possible obstacles and be sure to vote!  Use the following voting planner to develop a plan.

STEP 1—Determine if You Can Vote

  • Are you unsure whether you are permitted to vote?
    • Every registered voter has certain rights when they arrive to vote, see them here.
    • A person with a felony conviction who has completed all the terms of their sentencing may again register to vote, and vote in Texas, but the law is complicaterd, and a mistake can be costly.  See details on the Texas State Law Library website here.
  • Are you sure you are registered to vote in the county in which you plan to vote?
    • Check if you are officially registered to vote and where by clicking here.
      • While there, you can click the link to see polling locations, dates, and hours.  Keep that link open for later!
    • If you are not registered to vote, it is now too late to register for the upcoming Nov. 8 midterm election (Texas require registration 30 days before the election).
      • HOW TO REGISTER TO VOTE:  Please register to vote now using the instructions here so you don’t miss another election.  
        • Texas does not have online voter registration.  You can, however, fill out a form online, print it, and mail it using the instructions above.
        • If you do not have access to a computer and printer, please contact the Lubbock County Elections Administrator, Roxzine Stinson, for a paper copy of the application—call 806-775-1338.  Or, you can register in person at many locations.  If there are any additional problems, contact the Democratic Party at 806-749-8683.
        • An alternative to voting in person is voting by absentee ballot, though you must meet strict criteria to vote this way—see here. Beware that you must put identification number on BOTH the ballot and the envelope.
    • If you are not registered to vote in Lubbock county:
      • you cannot vote in Lubbock county
      • you can vote by traveling to the county in which you are registered
      • If you want to vote in Lubbock county in future elections (after Nov. 8), you must complete a voter registration form and indicate a change of address.
        • For example, on the form here, you should select “Change” under “Application Type:” and be sure to fill in the field under “City and County of Former Residence in Texas:”.  Paper forms will be similar.
        • See additional information above on how to register to vote.

STEP 2—Make sure you have the necessary identification to present at the polling location.

  • If you have a driver’s license, bring that and you are set.  Otherwise, learn more about other forms of acceptable identification:
  • See here for information in English about what identification you need.
  • For information in Spanish about what identification you need, see here.

STEP 3—Determine when and where you will vote and put that on your calendar.

  • Early voting for the Democratic Primary election ends on March 1, 2024.  Primary Election Day is March 5, 2024

    • We recommend that you plan to vote on an early voting day.
      • Typically, lines are shorter during early voting.
      • Also, if you miss an early voting day, you can try to go again.
    • It may be also somewhat better to go during the week if you are able.
  • Look up voting locations near you and their days and hours.  Pick one that will work for you.
    • For early voting anywhere in Lubbock County, the locations and schedules are here.
    • For Election Day, see here. 
    • If you are not sure how far a voting location is from you or how long it takes to get there, use Google Maps to find out.

STEP 4—Addressing hurdles to getting to your voting location when you plan.

  • If it will be hard for you to travel to your nearest polling location, you can arrange to have a volunteer drive you to and from the polling place by contacting Rideshare2Vote at 888-977-2250, by using their online scheduler, or by downloading their app to your smartphone.  If you need additional help, contact the Democratic Party at 806-749-8683.
  • If you plan to vote during work hours, be sure to get an OK from you employer.

STEP 5—Work out your vote choices.

  • Not knowing what is on the ballot or how you might vote is discouraging, but can easily be fixed.
  • Get a sample ballot.
    • The best information, which shows you a good visualization of the official ballot you will actually be filling out when you vote is here.
      • However, it can be a bit tricky to enter your information in this tool so it works.
      • Notice that the first box requires the “Address Number”—so not your street number and street name, but just your street number.  If you’re at 8799 1st St., enter ‘8799’.
      • Second, be sure to give the street name, and give only the name and not, for example ‘St.’ or ‘Ave.’ afterward.  So, for example, if you are at 8799 1st St., just enter ‘1st’.  If you put in ‘1st St.’ it will tell you it cannot find your address. Partial information is better than using a space here and may work better than full information.
      • Fill in both the city and zip code.
    • If you cannot get the above tool to work, you can use the Ballotpedia sample ballot tool here.
      • It is not the official ballot, but seems to do a good job of capturing everything on the official ballot, at least in a couple tests we did.
      • However, it is harder to read than the first tool mentioned.
  • Decide how you will vote, write that down on a piece of paper, and take that to your polling location
    • Ballotpedia has plenty of good, unbiased information on candidates and issues.  If you go to the sample ballot tool above, you can click on names and issues to learn more about them.
    • For issues on which you cannot get good information on Ballotpedia, just enter the name of the issue plus “Lubbock 2022 election” in your favorite internet search engine (google, duckduckgo, etc.).  This usually pulls up information you can use.  
      • We recommend you look at ‘about us’ or the Wikipedia page on whatever organization is providing the information so you can determine its likely biases.

STEP 6—Go and vote

  • When you are done—Congratulations, you’ve done your citizens duty!  Take pride in a job well done.
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