Voter registration deadline today

Today is the deadline to register to vote in order to cast a ballot in a stream of approaching elections May 9.

The elections that are coming up include the city of Brownsville, city of Los Fresnos, Los Fresnos Consolidated Independent School District, city of Rio Hondo, town of Bayview and town of Rancho Viejo.

Texas Secretary of State Hope Andrade recently issued a reminder, noting that applications to register that are mailed (to the Cameron County Election and Voter Registration Office at the Cameron County courthouse on Harrison Street) must be postmarked no later than today.

These also can be hand-delivered.

Andrade noted applications may be obtained from the county elections office, many post offices, libraries, or from the Secretary of State's voter information Web site: www.VOTEXAS.org.

She also pointed out that to register to vote, one must be a resident of the county, a U.S. citizen, at least 18 years old on election day, and not a convicted felon, unless the sentence, probation, or parole have been completed. A person also must not have been declared mentally incapacitated by a court of law.

Andrade also noted that to register to vote, you must provide either a Texas driver license number or personal identification number issued by the state or the last four digits of the social security number.

"If you do not have one of these three identification numbers, you are still eligible to register to vote, but will be required to provide proof of your identity at the polling place," the state office pointed out.

A voter registration certificate will be mailed within roughly 30 days of application.

Fred Garza with the Cameron County election office said that new registrations have been coming into the office.

The county will be running the elections for all the governmental entities except Rancho Viejo.

Garza is in the process of compiling the number of voters eligible to vote in each of the elections.