Voters Should Keep Registration Current

With a major election year just under way, Van Zandt County Clerk Charlotte Bledsoe said she would like to make the voting process easier for everyone.

However, she needs voters to meet her halfway by doing something that is too often ignored — keeping their voting registration current.

New voter registration cards were mailed in December. Anyone who has not received a new card should understand it may be for a specific reason, Bledsoe said.

"Probably the one thing I see happen most often is when somebody moves and we don’t have their new address, because they didn’t do a change of address for voter registration," she said.

People often tell her that they thought their voter registration information was changed by checking a box on the form they completed to renew or get a change of address on their Texas driver’s license.

"That does not always work," she said. "The state is still working on that, but if you got a new driver’s license in the mail but did not get a new voter registration card, you ought to know that it (address information) didn’t change."

Another problem stems from the idea that voter registration is good for a lifetime. It is not, Bledsoe said.

"Just because you registered once doesn’t mean you stay registered forever," she said.

Registered voters who have not cast a vote within two general election cycles are placed on what is known as a "suspense list." To get off that list, a voter has to provide some type of identification and proof of address to the county clerk’s office or at a voting poll.

Also, voters can be placed on "suspense" status if the clerk’s office gets a voter registration card returned in the mail and a subsequent letter and address verification form goes unanswered.

Then there are instances where a person thinks they are registered within a certain precinct but records show them in a different precinct.

Bledsoe said the state-administered system of assigning voting precincts based on a range of property addresses is not perfect.

"We probably still have some that are incorrect, but we keep working our way through them," she said. "If a voter gets their registration card and they truly believe they are in a different precinct, I encourage them to come talk to us and we will get it resolved."

The importance for voters to keep their registration current extends beyond a hassle-free experience at the poll on Election Day.

Bledsoe does not have to go very far back in time to find an example. Due to a number of ineligible signatures because of one of the reasons stated above, a local option election petition for alcohol sales in restaurants in Wills Point failed before ever going to the city’s voters.

"If there is a change of address, it is the voter’s responsibility to make that change. You have to have that done at least 30 days prior to signing a petition or coming in to vote in an election," she said.

Changing or correcting information on a voter registration card is a personal responsibility just as in changing information on a driver’s license or other form of identification, Bledsoe added.

"I have found that women, in particular, have a tendency to use multiple names. By that, I mean their driver’s license may have their first, maiden and last names but their voter registration may have their first, middle and last given (birth) names…or they may not like their first name and use the middle name instead," she said.

"The problem is, unless they have been registered to vote for a long time, we often can’t find them by what is on their driver’s license. It happens with men, too, when you have someone who uses Jr. or Sr. with their name or uses abbreviated names or initials," Bledsoe explained.

Ideally, a person should have the exact same name on all of his or her legal documents and forms of identification, she said.

It can make life easier at the voting poll for the voter and for the election judge. Bledsoe said election rules are stricter now about questions of identification and voters who are under "suspense" status on the election rolls.

The simplest way to avoid any problem at the poll, she said, is to have your current voter registration card in hand when you go to vote.

"Everybody has a place at home where they put their most important papers, and your voter registration card should be there," Bledsoe said.

Those without a voter registration card will have to have a current form of identification such as a valid driver’s license or government-issued identification card, or at the very least a utility bill showing name and the current address.

"People need to understand that the old days are gone and election laws have changed, and it will not matter if the election judge happens to be your cousin or best friend. If you don’t have some form of ID, they cannot let you vote," Bledsoe said.

Anyone who did not receive a new voter registration card in December, or anyone with questions regarding their voter registration status, should check with the county clerk’s office in the Van Zandt County Courthouse or call (903) 567-6503.