By Dawn Burleigh

The Orange Leader

 

Selecting a candidate to vote for in the upcoming primaries is as important as knowing if one is registered to vote on Primary Election Day, Tuesday, March 3, 2020.

Monday, February 3, 2020 is the last day one can register to vote in order to cast a ballot in upcoming primary elections.

First step is register to vote.

One may be able to apply to register to vote in person at the following public facilities:

• State or local voter registration and/or election offices
• The department of motor vehicles
• Public assistance agencies
• Armed services recruitment centers
• State-funded programs that serve people with disabilities

Any public facility that a state has designated as a voter registration agency

Orange County Election Administration is located at 206 Border Street in Orange. One can call the office at 409-882-7973 to request an application for voter registration or to update one’s current information by filling out a form.

To be eligible to vote, one must be:

• A U.S Citizen
• A resident of Orange County
• Be 18 years of age. One may register at 17 years and 10 months of age.
• Not be a convicted felon. Unless the sentence is completed, including probation or parole. One will need to check if re-registering is required.
• Not be declared mentally incapacitated by a court of law.

A person who is diagnosed as being mentally ill, senile, or suffering from some other debility that prevents them from managing his own affairs may be declared mentally incompetent by a court of law, according to http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/

A person who is finally convicted of a felony is not eligible to register to vote. Pursuant to Section 11.002 of the Texas Election Code (the “Code”), once a felon has successfully completed his or her punishment, including any term of incarceration, parole, supervision, period of probation, or has been pardoned, then that person is immediately eligible to register to vote, according to the Texas Secretary of State official website.

Once registered and selected the party of choice, one has three options for how to cast a ballot: By mail, early voting in person or voting in person on Election Day.

To qualify to vote by mail, one must request a Vote By Mail Application from the Orange County Election Office by calling 409-882-7973. The form must be completed and returned with a stamp.

To be eligible, one must be 65 or older, disabled, out of the county on Election Day and during early voting or confined in jail, but otherwise eligible to vote.