How to Adult: Voting as a Student

Of all the age demographics, college students have the lowest turnout at the polls. The young adult vote has been consistently underwhelming in every presidential election since 1962. Between the misconception that students are unable to vote while still at school, the general disillusionment with the current electoral system and the unfortunate reality that students don’t know how to vote in the first place, 18- to 24-year-olds just don’t make it out to the polls.

Instead of sitting idly as this November passes by, follow this process to vote in the upcoming midterm election while still in college.

In-County Students:
To vote, people must be registered at least 30 days prior to the election. This can be done when a driver’s license is renewed or by filling out a voter registration application. Additionally, a voter must be at least 18 years old on election day. If there’s any doubt about registration, people can check the “Am I Registered?” database to find out whether they have signed up to vote. This site also shows where to go for early and regular voting.

Out-of-county Students:
When students move out-of-state, or even out-of-county, for college, the hurdles they must jump through in order to vote seem significantly more difficult, and the lines of fine print blur together in an overwhelming cacophony of words. But fear not! Despite the ominous, inexplicable sense of dread that accompanies navigating the jumble of links and buttons that are government websites, requesting a ballot by mail, otherwise known as an absentee ballot, is as easy as finding an envelope and a stamp and driving to your nearest UPS store.

Because that really is all you have to do. (For the most part.)

After registering to vote at least 30 days before the election, students who expect they will be absent from their permanent residence during early voting and Election Day must mail in an absentee ballot to vote for their preferred candidate.

Registered voters may request a ballot by mail, printing off the official application form if they are unable to vote in-person. The Tarrant County website officially lists the valid conditions in which voters are qualified to apply for an absentee ballot, including:

• Expected absence from the County during both the early voting period and on Election Day. (The ballot must be mailed to an address outside the County.)
• Disability.
• 65 years of age or older.
• Confinement in jail and not finally convicted of a felony.

Applications for the ballot may be submitted throughout the calendar year, starting on January 1, and must be received at least 11 business days prior to Election Day, or, if the eleventh day is on a weekend, the closest previous business day. Counters will include any ballots which arrived on or before Election Day (or on the next business day after Election Day if postmarked prior to) toward election results.

Completed ballots may be sent through mail, fax or email (with the voter’s original signature and scanned application) to the Early Voting Clerk. If submitting through fax or email, the applicant must also send a physical application through the mail by reason of Senate Bill 5. The mailed application must arrive at the Tarrant County Elections Office within four days of the fax or email submission to validate the application.

Mailed applications can be sent to:

Tarrant County Elections
PO Box 961011
Fort Worth, Texas 76161-0011
or faxed to 817-831-6118.