The early voting period for the 2024 Primary Election closed on Friday. If you didn’t vote early or send in your ballot by mail, you have one more chance to vote on Tuesday, March 5.
Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Kendall County voters may vote at any of the 11 voting centers. You can find a list of polling locations on the website of the Kendall County Elections Office.
Kendall County has one of the best election departments in the state. Elections Administrator Staci Decker and her staff provide thorough training to all election workers, and the staff is very organized and detail oriented. You can rest assured that your vote will be recorded and counted accurately and that voting machines are secure.
Texas holds an “open primary.” According to BallotPedia, “An open primary is any primary election in which a voter either does not have to formally affiliate with a political party in order to vote in its primary, or can declare his or her affiliation with a party at the polls on the day of the primary even if the voter was previously affiliated with a different party.” Unlike some states, where you declare your party when you register to vote, Texas has no such requirement. A voter “declares” their party affiliation by choosing which Primary to vote in, either Democratic or Republican.
When you visit your polling place (or when requesting a ballot-by-mail), you tell the voting clerk which primary you want to vote in. Once you’ve voted in one party’s primary, you cannot vote in the other party’s primary or runoff election.
Voters will see only the candidates for the primary of their choice — in other words, if you vote in the Democratic primary, your ballot will not include any Republican candidates, and vice versa.
The League of Women Voters hosts a non-partisan website, www.vote411.org, that lists all the candidates that will appear on your ballot. The candidate profiles include answers to questions the LWV poses to all candidates.
The county election website has useful information on Voter ID requirements and how the vote is secured. Generic sample ballots are also available for both parties.
After the primary, the Kendall County Democratic Party will hold its County Convention on March 23 from 12:45-2:30 p.m. at the Hampton Inn Boerne (34935 Interstate 10). Anyone who voted in the 2024 Democratic primary may attend the convention and vote on convention business.
If you are a Democrat and want to see your local and state party’s influence grow, participating in the convention process is a fantastic opportunity to make your Democratic party stronger.
That Saturday, your fellow Democrats from all over the county will come together to learn more about taking action to support Democrats here at home. We will vote on important issues facing our party.
We will elect delegates to advocate for our county’s needs. And we will hear from some of the Democratic candidates who will appear on the November ballot.
Why do Texas Democrats hold conventions? Every two years, Democrats (and Republicans) hold a state party convention. At this year’s state convention, delegates will elect members of the Democratic National Committee and national delegates to the Democratic National Convention (Aug. 19-24 in Chicago). The Texas Democratic Party assigns each county delegates proportional to the number of votes Beto O’Rourke received in 2022. For the 2024 State Convention, Kendall County will send 16 delegates.
At every state convention, Democrats write a party platform, update party rules and pass resolutions on various topics of public policy or party affairs.
Additionally, there are general session speeches by our elected officials, candidates and national figures. There are lots of interest group caucuses and training sessions.
We need all local Democrats to vote in the Democratic primary so we can field the strongest slate of candidates for the November general election.
For details on our activities, call our office at 830-331-1243 or visit www.kcdems.us.
Laura Bray is Chair of the Kendall County Democratic Party. The Texas Democratic Party contributed to this column.
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