Register To Vote...

 I'm not one of those old guys up in there on the internet using memes I did not make myself to bemoan the fact that the world is not like it used to be. I look to my millennial generation children and the children they are raising to see positive proof that the world is a better place than it used to be and besides there are somethings I can't remember how they used to be. One of those things I can't remember is when I was 18 years old I do not recall registering to vote. 

In January 1975 I had turned 18 and I recall having a draft card in my pocket and I must have registered to vote at the same time but I could not tell you when or where. When the November 1976 election was held I was a college student. Just a couple of years before when endless appeals, delays and lying had yet become popular Nixon had resigned the Presidency before we could find out just how bad he was. His successor Gerald Ford appeared at an event in San Antonio and was photographed eating a tamale with the corn husk still on it. Those were not my guys. That fall I voted Jimmy Carter for President. He won. Next time I voted for him was 1980 and he lost but I kept voting for Presidents. Like a long suffering coach I could put up my career won/lost numbers but that's not the point here. The important point is that I registered to vote and vote I have.

I was talking with some friends the other night, friends who believe like me that being registered to vote is important and they had proof that registering is harder than ever. Used to when you went to the Angelina County Courthouse Annex where you register vehicles there would be a table with voter registration materials handy to fill out and turn in while you waited. That table is still in the building but up the stairs in a low traffic area where no one passes and no one sees it. The Texas Department of Public Safety is supposed to make voter registration available when you go to their office to renew, replace or change contact info on you drivers license. Apparently this has become inconsistent. High School Principles are required to serve by law as Deputy Registrars for the State of Texas and make registration resource materials available to eligible students. This is probably how I got registered to vote. There is only one school in Angelina County doing this. 

These instances are probably just the tip of the iceberg. Like Nixon they won't want it all to come to light. 

If you want to vote in the upcoming election you must be registered to vote by October 7th. You can't register to vote online in Texas but at VoteTexas.gov  you can print out an application and find info on where to turn it in. If you need a printer or computer I know a place that will be glad to let you use their equipment to prepare your registration. I am not currently a Deputy Voter Register but I have been and I'll answer any questions you may have at cewallac@consolidated,net and I know people that will come to your house and take you to register to vote. 

After Jimmy Carter lost that election he has lived a whole life making the world a better place. He will soon be 100 years old and he has said he looks forward to voting in the next election. You should register to vote and look forward to it also.