The official Election Day is November 8 this year, but UNT students, faculty, and staff who live in Denton County will have an opportunity to beat the crowds and vote early in the 2016 General Election without even leaving the Denton campus. Other voters from the community who are registered in Denton County will also be allowed to vote early on the UNT Denton campus.

Time and Place

From Monday, October 24 to Friday, November 4, the UNT Libraries, in cooperation with the Denton County Elections Administration, will host an early voting location at the UNT Gateway Center. Visitors can park on campus for a fee.

The Gateway Center voting area will be open at the following times:

If the Gateway Center location is not convenient, residents of Denton County may also vote at any of a number of other Early Voting Locations during these dates.

NOTE: If you wait until Election Day (Tuesday, November 8^th), you will need to vote in your designated precinct.

Candidates and Issues

A Voter’s Guide from the League of Women Voters of Denton is available to help you become a more responsible voter by learning about the candidates and issues being voted on.

You can get a sample ballot by entering your identifying information in the Denton County Voter Lookup database.

Are You Registered to Vote?

To find out if you are registered in Denton County, go to the Denton County Voter Lookup database.

To find out if you are registered in Texas, go to the Secretary of State’s Vote Texas site.

If you are registered in another Texas county you cannot vote in Denton County, but you can request a mail-in ballot from your home county election administration if you are not going to be in the area during the voting period.

If you think you should be registered, but don’t know for sure or have questions, contact the Texas Secretary of State at 1-800-252-VOTE.

Don’t Forget Your ID

In 2011 the Texas Legislature passed a Texas Voter ID Law that required certain specific forms of identification in order to vote in a Texas election.

On August 10, 2016, a federal district court entered an order that partially ruled against the constitutionality of this law. The court order relaxed the voter identification requirements for all elections held in Texas after August 10, 2016 until further notice.

These are the acceptable forms of photo ID:

• Texas driver license issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS)
• Texas Election Identification Certificate issued by DPS
• Texas personal identification (ID) card issued by DPS
• Texas concealed handgun license issued by DPS
• U.S. military identification card containing the person’s photograph
• U.S. citizenship certificate containing the person’s photograph
• U.S. passport

With the exception of the U.S. citizenship certificate, the photo ID must be current or have expired no more than four years ago.

If you don’t have one of these forms of ID, you may fill out a Reasonable Impediment Declaration at the polling place and present it with one of the following forms of ID:

• Valid voter registration certificate
• Certified birth certificate (must be an original)
• Current utility bill
• Bank statement
• Government check
• Paycheck
• Any government document with your name and an address (original required if it contains a photograph)

Do You Want to Know More?

Information about voter registration, voting rights, special needs, and other issues related to voting in Texas is available at the Texas Secretary of State’s VoteTexas.gov page.

Learn more about the upcoming elections at the Denton County Elections Administration Web site and the Texas Elections Division Web site.

Contact Julie Leuzinger, the UNT Political Science Librarian, if you have any questions.

Article by Bobby Griffith.

Photo of UNT Gateway Center by UNT/URCM Photography.