HOUSTON, Texas — With 50 days to go until the Nov. 5 election, political science experts say campaigns are switching gears and now focusing on voter registration.
“They want to get people to turn from being there and being active and cheering to getting registered to vote and then going to vote,” said University of Houston Political Science Professor Brandon Rottinghaus.
According to a spokesperson with the Texas Secretary of State Office, there’s already a big number of Texans registered to vote.
“I will say we have about 18 million registered voters,” said Alicia Pierce.
If you haven’t registered or aren’t sure if you are there are different places you can check.
You can go online to your county tax office, for example, if you’re registered in Harris County, click here.
You can also check the secretary of state’s website, which recommends going VoteTexas.gov.
“You can track your voter registration at my voter portal, or if you need to update your information like your address or you've changed your name, then it will also send you to the links that you can do that from,” said Pierce.
Sometimes it can be challenging or overwhelming to find what you need that’s why organizations like AliefVotes are working to help.
“It's so important because these are the folks that are really on the ground and familiar with what's going on,” said Executive Director Abby Trino.
Trino said they work to make sure eligible high school students, and their families, have the information they need to register to vote.
“Students take that information and they think it's really cool how they have those conversations with their parents, and they learn together as a family,” said Trino.
Regardless, each person advises people to get registered sooner rather than later.
National Voter Registration Day is Tuesday, Sept. 17, but you can register anytime between now and Oct. 7 in person or by mail. It’s important to note in Texas you can’t register online.