Early voting began Monday for two sets of bond packages and a handful of proposed amendments to the state constitution. Both bond packages — one for Dallas ISD and one for Highland Park ISD — are important to the growth of the districts and even the health and safety of the students. And those amendments deal with everything from property taxes to the living arrangements of state officials.
But hardly anyone one will vote. Which is a crying shame, because (and excuse me while I get on my soapbox) there are people in some countries that would give both eyeteeth for the honor of having a say in anything — even something as mundane as whether small counties can be allowed to perform maintenance on private roads.
And sure, maybe voting is this arduous task that requires getting out of your car and walking into an air conditioned building to hand your driver’s license over to a nice lady or man who then finds you in a computer and walks you over to sign your name and then walks you to a booth to fill in some circles with a Sharpie. That’s hard. I know. I mean, it’s almost as hard as getting out of your car, walking into a Starbucks, standing in line, choosing a drink, telling a nice man or lady what you want to drink, and then paying for the drink before scooting over to wait for a barista to make your drink. I mean, almost. Right?
No.
Voting — and voting early, especially — falls somewhere between breathing and walking upright in the range of difficulty. There are zero excuses for any registered voter sitting out any election. They’re all important. All of them. If you have ever stood in a line more than five people deep at Target just to buy a Diet Coke and deodorant, you can summon the will to vote.
So, now that I’ve stepped down from my soapbox, here is what you need to know about early voting in Dallas County: You can do it at any polling place on this list, provided you are registered to vote. I mean, you can stop on your way to or from lunch and be in and out in no time flat, even if where you work isn’t close to where you live (provided where you work is in Dallas County). That’s how easy early voting is. Don’t know if your registration is current? Check here.
Don’t know anything about the propositions? As luck would have it, the Houston Chronicle came up with this handy infographic with pros and cons on each amendment. Trying to decide about the Dallas ISD bond? Well, I explained my vote here, and others have endorsed it here, here and here. You can read more for yourself here.
And that HPISD bond package? The district has laid out its cards here. The PAC supporting it has a lengthy list of Park Cities folks who support the package, so you might see a neighbor or three here. Park Cities People looked at the package here, and there’s a lot of back and forth from all sides here. And also check out another group opposed to the HPISD bond package here, since a commenter pointed out a group we missed.
So there you go. Plenty of study aids, a list of places to go vote, and the means to find out for sure if you are registered. Now, go forth and vote.
