Okay, Denton. Many complaints are made about how few of us actually vote in local elections. When averaged out, voter age is above the age most movie theatres set for a discount. We’re collectively younger than that, Denton. It’s time to get up, put your craft beer down and vote. We’ve put aside all that silly music, food and art stuff this week to talk to the various people running for city council because it matters.
First off, make sure you’re registered to vote. You don’t want to look like a dork going to vote only to find out that you were never registered in the first place. The last day to register is April 11th and the good thing is that it’s super easy to check to see if you’re registered and get registered this year. You can check to see if you’re registered already here. If you aren’t, fret not! You can register to vote via mail, or look for We Denton Do It’s very own Glen Farris on the street somewhere (he’ll be the one wearing the Canadian tuxedo). He’s a volunteer registrar deputy and will get you ready to vote with a wink and a smile.
Vote early! Skip the (unlikely) lines and hop on over during your lunch break in order to get your “I Voted” sticker before anyone else does. Heck, make it a combo and pick up some banh mi from The Pickled Carrot on your way in. The people who work early voting won’t mind and the voting machines work better when they smell of sriracha. Early voting days are April 29 - May 7. We've listed the early voting sites at the bottom - so you don't get confused and head into the wrong city building. Mark your calendars.
Check out VoteDenton.org or The League of Women Voter’s of Denton website. Some really talented people compiled all of the info you really need to know and made it easy for you to figure out which district you live in, who is running, and whether or not you’re already registered.
Get informed! All of the candidates are pretty different and want different things for our city. Make sure that the candidates you’re voting for line up with your vision for the city. If you live in district 1, you’re covered. Kevin Roden is running uncontested for his 2nd term (Eli Gemini moved to Hollywood, sadly). Don’t worry. He knows a ton about tacos and has already done plenty of awesome stuff in town. As for the others, you can check out their websites, facebook pages, the interviews we conducted (district 1, district 2, district 3, district 4), or stop by one of the debates to hear for yourself. Most of them will even answer emails if you have specific questions.
So c’mon y’all. Vote Denton has an interesting stat on their site that says only 4,000 out of 115,000 Dentonites vote in city elections, and the sad part about that is that these are the elections that count the most. Our city council just gave a swift kick to the collective ass of payday lenders trying to screw over Dentonites a few weeks ago and they’ve done a lot more in the past couple of years (read: food trucks, fracking issues, DCTA stuff, etc...), too. Point is, they make change that affects you on a daily basis in your real life. So don’t just be careful in choosing the person making those changes for you, but make sure that you actually get a voice in the decision. Oh, and bring a friend. We’ll buy ice cream for the district that gets out and votes the most.
Early voting can be done at the following locations:
Denton County Elections Administration
701 Kimberly Dr.
April 29-May 4: 8am-5pm
May 5-6: 7am-7pm
Denton Civic Center
321 E McKinney St.
April 30–May 3: 8am-5pm
May 5-6: 7am-7pm