With eyes on the quickly approaching Nov. 7 election in Texas, people have until Tuesday, Oct. 10 to register as eligible voters. To offer support to Marksmen who wish to have a voice in this upcoming election, the St. Mark’s Parents Association has organized a voter registration table in the Commons right next to the Great Hall.
The registrars, mainly consisting of parent volunteers who are trained Volunteer Deputy Registrars (VDRs), are stationed from 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m, which includes Upper School lunch. During this time, students who meet the voting requirement of being 18 years old by the time of the election on Nov. 7, typically seniors, are welcome to stop by their table to register.
A current co-chair for Marksman voter registrations, parent Amy Peck believes that encouraging students to be registered is an important step in the process of having a certain level of political impact.
But with the Oct. 10 deadline coming up, the parents’ main goal is to efficiently inform and guide students during the registration process to ensure that it runs smoothly.“A lot of what we do is raising awareness that there is an election coming up,” Peck said. “There are alternate ways to register, but if you read any government form, it’s somewhat repetitive and confusing in its tiny print. And if you’re unsure about something, your application might have the chance to get rejected. That’s why the parents are here to step in and help — the VDRs have a lot of experience with filling out these forms, and we’ll go over it with you to make sure that your application doesn’t get kicked back. We’re like homework checkers.”
