Who Can Vote?

By D. A. Sharpe

 

 

 

Any citizen of the United States may register to vote through the County Government Office of the county in which he or she lives.  It must be where you live and not, for example, where you are employed.  You might live in Wise County, but your job is in Denton County.  You are a Wise County voter.  The Voter Registration process requires you to cite a physical residential location.  You may not use, for example, a Post Office Box number.  In general, itÕs the residential location allowed on your Texas DriverÕs License. 

 

To register to vote, you must be aged at least 17 years and 10 months old, and be at least age 18 on Election Day. 

 

That also means you may file as a candidate for election to a county office only in your county of residence, where you are a registered voter. In most states, that candidacy filing is with the Chair of the political party in whose Primary Election the candidate wishes to run.  That is the process in Texas. 

 

In the beginning years of the government of the United States, only males were registered to vote.  On May 21, 1919, U.S. Representative James R. Mann (1856-1922), a Republican from Illinois and chairman of the Suffrage Committee, proposed the House resolution to approve the Susan Anthony Amendment granting women the right to vote. The measure passed the House 304-89Ńa full 42 votes above the required two-thirds majority.

 

On June 19, 1919, the whole Congress of the United States, including the Senate, passed the proposal of the 19th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution which would allow women to register to vote.  Such proposal required the concurrence of the majority members in state legislatures of at least 2/3Õs of the states.  The deciding vote came with the State of Tennessee Legislature approval, made by a 1 count deciding vote cast by 23-year old Representative Harry T. Burn, a Republican from McMinn County. 

 

Wyoming became the first state to grant voting rights to women.  It also was the first state to elect a female governor, Nellie Tayloe Ross (1876 Š 1977) in 1924.  This is a reason the state nickname for Wyoming is the ŅEquality State.Ó  Gov. Ross subsequent served as the first female Direct of the United States Mint, 1933 Š 1953. 

 

Congress later established August 26 as the annual recognition of WomenÕs Equality Day. 

 

If you want to verify your Texas VoterÕs Registration status, this is the website to determine such.


 

 

         Composed by

            Dwight Albert (D. A.) Sharpe

            805 Derting Road East

            Aurora, TX 76078-3712

 

            817-504-6508

 

            da@dasharpe.com

 

            www.dasharpe.com