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Organizing
a Voter Registration Drive
Who
Can Register Persons To Vote?
Who Is Eligible to Be a Registered Voter?
When Is the Best Time For a Voter Registration Drive?
Where Is the Best Place to Register Voters?
What Materials Do I Need?
Caution!
Introduction
Voter
registration drives are one of the most effective, productive and
non-controversial political activities with which a church may be
involved. Persons registering to vote at church voter registration
drives are most often, church members or guests who have recently moved
to a new residence and neglected to change their address with the local
voter registrar. Most are ideological allies. Voter registration drives
in churches are effective and render positive results.
Organizing
a Voter Registration Drive (go
to top of page)
First,
one must get approval from church leadership and church legal counsel
(if any). Then place an announcement in your church bulletin and/or your
church newsletter about your voter registration drive. Recruit
volunteers. In Texas, all volunteers must be deputized as Volunteer
Deputy Registrars (VDR’s) through the local county Voter Registrar. (Click
here to see a List of Texas Voter Registrars by County
)
Then you will need to set up your voter registration locations. You will
need tables, chairs, materials, handouts, signs and posters. The number
of locations, and the number of tables chairs and materials will depend
on the size of your church and the anticipated number of persons
registering to vote.
Who
Can Register Persons To Vote? (go
to top of page)
In
Texas, election laws permit any qualified voter to become a Volunteer
Deputy Registrar (VDR). These persons are appointed by the county Voter
Registrar. (Click
here to see a List of Texas Voter Registrars by County
) The
appointment is usually automatically granted upon request. Once a person
becomes a Volunteer Deputy Registrar, they perform their duties only in
the county in which they are deputized which is the same as their county
of residence. Appointments can be effective up to two years and expire
on December 31 of even numbered years. Please note that it is illegal
for persons not deputized to even physically handle the Applications for
a Voter Registration Card or the combination forms for the Application
for a Voter Registration Card. Detailed instructions are available from
the local Voter Registrar. You must
comply with the law.
Who
Is Eligible to Be a Registered Voter?
(go
to top of page)
In
Texas, any person who is seventeen years and ten months of age or older,
is a U.S. Citizen, is not a convicted felon, and has been a resident of
the county for thirty or more days, may register to vote. A person must
be registered to vote at their present residence address although there
are a few exceptions.
When
Is the Best Time For a Voter Registration Drive? (go
to top of page)
A
voter registration drive can be done anytime however, a date near the
voter registration deadline tends to render better results. In Texas,
the deadline for registering to vote before any election is thirty days.
Voter registration drives in churches have been observed to be more
effective during the period of one to three Sundays immediately before
the voter registration deadline prior to a major election. This date
commonly occurs on the last two Sundays in September and/or the first
two Sundays in October but will vary depending on the election. In
Texas, there are four uniform election dates each year not including
primary elections, runoff elections or special elections.
Where
Is the Best Place to Register
Voters? (go
to top of page)
Voter
registration can be set up anywhere at your church. The most successful
locations are near high pedestrian traffic areas where stopped traffic
will cause minimal interference to pedestrian traffic patterns and not
violate fire codes. You might consider locations in the narthex, foyer,
atrium or near entrances and exits. In a large church you may need
several locations or several persons working at one location or both.
What
Materials Do I Need? (go
to top of page)
After
you get organized and your physical set up is completed, you will need
Applications for Voter Registration. These can be pre-printed post cards
or a combination application receipt book or both. Other useful handouts
that create interest and assist voters are a)
An “Application for Ballot by Mail”
(for those who qualify, this may be used by persons eligible or persons
related to one eligible to vote by mail which includes persons over 65,
persons disabled or temporarily incapacitated or persons expected to be
out of town on election day and during the entire early voting period; b)
A handout entitled “Just One Vote”
(this is a list of trivia on elections showing historical information
about elections where one vote affected the outcome); c)
A “List of Websites”
(this is a list of web addresses with information on voting, voter
registration and sources for voter guides); d)
Other handouts including educational material. Handouts printed on “Astrobright”
or similar colored paper attract additional attention to your
activities. It is wise to have one or two sheets of stick on labels for
voter registrars in counties outside of your home county to be used in
the event you have persons who reside in counties outside of the one
where you are deputized as a Volunteer Deputy Registrar so you can make
it easier for them to mail their application to their Voter Registrar.
Caution
(go
to top of page)
Be
careful not to give out candidate campaign literature or obvious
partisan material unless it has been cleared with the leadership and/or
legal counsel of your church. The information herein applies in Texas
only. Your state might have different laws regulating the registration
of voters.
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