Throughout the first few weeks of school on the first floor of the Harvin Center, students may have noticed the League of Women Voters helping people register to vote.
“We don’t tell people who to vote for, we just tell them to vote,” said Ruth Falck, a member of the League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan group that encourages informed and active participation in government.
Falck said after she leaves Del Mar she heads straight to the courthouse to turn in everyone’s voter registration sheets.
The league will have a voter guide out in all public libraries in Nueces County and the White Library on Del Mar College’s East Campus with information about all of the candidates running.
They will also hold a public forum Feb. 13 at City Hall informing everyone about the local candidates running.
“Think about the issues that are important to you and think about which candidate is going to work for you. You are hiring them,” Falck said.
To register to vote you must be 18 or older and a United States citizen. You can register to vote at the county courthouse and you can also pick up a voter registration card at your local post office.
Emily Ybarra, an 18-year-old radio and television major at Del Mar, says she is registered to vote but has never voted before.
“I’m going to vote specifically because I want our age group to be heard. Because we really are not, not a whole lot of kids our age our registered,” Ybarra said.
Early voting for the primary election is Feb. 18-28 and election day for the primary is March 3.
The point of the primaries is to narrow each party down to one candidate.
If one candidate doesn’t receive 50% of the vote in the first primary election, there will be a primary runoff election May 26.
To vote, you must be registered at least 30 days before every election. The last day to register for the primary on March 3 is Feb. 3 and the last day to register to vote for the May 26 primary runoff is April 27.