The Voter Registration Card
Today is Presidents’ Day. Commentary has been around for 14 Presidents, voted in 13 presidential elections, and have had my photo taken with two Presidents who are still alive. 40 of my years have been under GOP presidents and 31 years and four months under Democratic presidents. I was also a key player in a presidential campaign that we won where we carried Texas in 1976. I was also involved in a presidential campaign that we barely lost in 2000.
Speaking of George Washington’s mug is on the dollar bill and quarter.
Thomas Jefferson’s is on the two-dollar bill and nickel.
Abraham Lincoln’s is on the five-dollar bill and penny.
Andrew Jackson is on the twenty-dollar bill.
Ulysses S. Grant is on the fifty-dollar bill.
John F. Kenney is on the 50-cent piece.
Franklin D. Roosevelt on the dime.
I currently have two Grants, five Lincolns, and a Washington in my pocket.
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I got my voter registration card in the mail last week. I tossed it in a drawer on top of the ones I get every two years. Why do we even get the card if we don’t ever use it. Do you use yours?
Here is what is on the Texas Secretary of State’s website:
Check your certificate to be sure all information is correct. If there is a mistake, make corrections and return it to the Voter Registrar immediately.
On your registration certificate, you will see a precinct number. Your residence is located in a specific “precinct,” or area within the county where you will vote on Election Day. In some cases, precincts may be combined to accommodate joint local elections, so always consult your County Clerk or Elections Administrator in the days before an election for the address of the polling place where you’re to vote. If your county has supplied us with polling place information, you can find that information here: County Precincts and Polling Place Addresses
When you go to the polls to vote, present one of the seven (7) acceptable forms of photo ID. If you do not possess an acceptable form of photo identification and cannot reasonably obtain one, you may present a supporting form of ID (one of which is your valid voter registration certificate) and execute a Reasonable Impediment Declaration (PDF), noting your reasonable impediment to obtaining an acceptable form of photo identification, stating that the information contained in the declaration is true, that you are the same individual personally appearing at the polling place to sign the declaration, and that you face a reasonable impediment to procuring an acceptable form of photo identification. An election official will match your name to the official list of registered voters.
For voters that applied for and received the permanent exemption from showing a photo ID based in their disability status, this status will be notated on their voter registration certificate. These voters are required to present their voter registration certificate when they go to the polls to vote.
If you lose your certificate, notify your county Voter Registrar in writing to receive a new one.
You will automatically receive a new certificate every two years if you haven’t moved from the address at which you are registered.
That is a whole lot of verbiage about nothing. I scanned the QR code on the card, and it took me to the Harris County Clerk’s website where I had to log on with a username and password. I didn’t. It should have taken me to Harrisvotes.com where no username and password is required.
The featured photo is my card. I blocked out my year of birth, like 71 years ago, do the math, and the barcode info. Everything else you can find online like my cool middle name. I have been in Precinct 57, Heights High School, like forever. The March 5, 2024, election day voting places listed on the Harrisvotes.com website is in alphabet order. A precinct number is not assigned. They will probably list the precinct number on the voting locations list that is submitted to the Chronicle in the next few days.
I guess for some folks who vote by mail and don’t know how to get their VUID number or precinct number, the card is useful, even though the VUID number and precinct info on the mail ballot application is not required by law.
The card used to include your date of birth. Now it is only my year of birth. Up until 2016, it used to include your gender.
I guess since Texas law says we need to get our voter registration card in the mail, we will continue to get it in the mail.
Speaking of, to check voter registration status in Harris County, you can still hit the voter tab and registration tab at Harrisvotes.com, but it now takes you to the Harris County Tax Assessor Collector website. Got it?
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The Chron E-Board made a bunch of Democratic Party Primary endorsements this past weekend including Sean Teare for Harris County District Attorney and Cong. Sheila Jackson Lee for reelection.
Here is from the Jackson Lee endorsement:
But the other competitor in this primary cannot be written off. The impressive Amanda Edwards, 42, is the first real threat to Jackson Lee since she took office since 1994. Edwards’ policy chops and savvy (she’s a municipal finance attorney) made her a standout on Houston City Council. She was also out in the community fixing up homes after Hurricane Harvey.
Edwards was hailed as a rising star in 2019, when she stepped down from City Council. But since then, she’s struggled in elections: First she got buried in a crowded primary race for U.S. senator in 2020. Then, after she entered the Houston mayor’s race, Jackson Lee jumped into it at the last minute, undermining Edwards’ likely sources of support. Edwards dropped out of the mayor’s race, and ran for what appeared to be Jackson Lee’s open congressional seat.
I disagree with this endorsement. There is no mention in the take about the lousy campaign for mayor Jackson Lee just ran where she spewed hateful lies about Mayor John Whitmire and got her arse handed to her by 64% of H-Town voters. She conducted one of the most dishonest campaigns in the history of H-Town city elections. The other thing is Jackson Lee didn’t jump “into it at the last minute.” She got into the race like a little over four and a half months before the filing deadline. That isn’t “last minute” in Commentary’s book. Very disappointing.
The E-Board also endorsed in the Harris County constable races. Here is a line from the take that I found interesting:
Harris County Commissioners Court draws the constable precinct lines with each decade’s U.S. Census, often to achieve political aims.
I must have missed something. I don’t think the constable precinct lines have been redrawn since they added a couple of constables in the 1970s. Just saying.
Early voting in person starts tomorrow, but you know that.
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Have a nice and productive Presidents’ Day.
