On November 3, the 59th presidential election will be held in this country. On the ballot will be other important races, too. Texans will be voting in a US Senate race, and different areas of San Antonio will also be selecting state representatives, County commissioners and whether or not to support various bonds and tax initiatives. Now is the time to register! Registration forms must be turned into the Bexar County Elections Office by October 5 if you want to vote this November. You can pick up a voter registration card at any BiblioTech Branch. You can also request a registration card online or call 210-335-VOTE to request a registration card. Not sure if you're registered to vote or not? You can do a quick check here.
According to an article in today's San Antonio Express-News, Bexar County election officials are planning for a surge in applications over the next few weeks. To prepare for this, they will be open on the weekend of October 3-4 and will be open until 7pm on October 5, the last day to register.
Today is National Register to Vote Day, and you can find reminders all over the internet, from Google's search bar to trending hashtags on Twitter. We also have some great voting and elections resources in our BiblioTech Public Library collection. For example, if you would like to explain the election process to the little people in your life, check out What is an Election? from BiblioBoard. BiblioBoard also has some very interesting historic elections campaign ephemera. From The Great Courses, we offer The Modern Political Tradition, which features 36 lectures by Prof. Laurence Cahoone. And, as usual, cloudLibrary offers a plethora of choices, below are some of our recommended reads:
- A User's Guide to Democracy
- The Almanac of American Politics
- One Person, No Vote (adult and young adult versions)
- Lillian's Right to Vote
Bonus recommendation: if you'd like a fun read about a presidential election that is a bit lighter than some of the nonfiction and historical books above, which features a fictional female president from right here in Texas, check out Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston.
Amidst all that reading, don't forget to register to vote! You have until October 5. In 2016, during the last presidential election, there were 1,049,089 were registered voters in Bexar County and 598,081 of those registered cast a ballot, for a voter turn out around 51%. This year, the elections office expects a turnout of over 60%, which would be amazing! Take the first step today and make sure that you are registered to vote, with your correct information listed.