Voting updates for your weekend viewing

THE WOODLANDS, TX – Next week, we’ll already be ten percent done with 2024, and if you think that time is already flying, just wait until Election Season kicks into high gear… which is happening next week. Already, deadlines are looming, polling locations are being prepped, and a Candidate Forum co-moderated by Woodlands Online are locked in. Here’s a breakdown of upcoming events you need to know about this weekend.

Deadline to register to vote is Monday

The Primary Elections are taking place in Texas on Tuesday, March 5. The Lone Star State is also an Open Primary state, which means that you can cast your ballots in either a Democratic or Republican Party primary. Remember, a primary is just to narrow down a particular party’s slate of candidates for offices down to one each. Texas also isn’t a Registered Party state, which means that anyone here saying “I’m a registered Republican” is being slightly hyperbolic. Finally, a reminder that there is no longer straight-ticket voting on any election days here in Texas; you can’t just click an ‘all candidates in a single party’ button when choosing your candidates.

Monday, February 5 at 5 p.m. is the deadline for you to register to vote for the primaries. If you’re not registered by then, you’ll have to sit this one out. Texas election laws stipulate that you have to submit a physical voter registration application; instead of the convenience of an online registration, you have to print out the form and mail it to your county’s elections office or hand deliver it to their local registrar. One caveat: you can do it online only when renewing your driver’s license or state-issued ID.

For the most part, if you voted in a previous election, you should still be registered; however, if you moved to a new address, you have to update your information before you can vote – election officials will kick back ballots attributed to the wrong address, or if the address on the voter registration card doesn’t match the one on your driver’s license.

Early voting for the primaries commences on Tuesday, February 20 and lasts through Friday, March 1. For early voting, you can hit any polling station in your county; on Election Day, you have to hit your listed precinct polling location.

Woodlands Online’s Candidate Forum is Thursday

Woodlands Online has partnered with Community Impact and The Woodlands Area Chamber of Commerce for the 2024 Primary Election Candidate Forum. This event, which is free and open to the public, is taking place on Thursday, February 8, from 4 - 7 p.m. at the Jett Center next to Woodforest Stadium in Shenandoah. The forum will feature candidates from the races for County Commissioner Precinct 3, State Representative District 15, and Montgomery County Sheriff, and will be co-moderated by Woodlands Online’s news editor and Community Impact’s general manager. The forum will also be livestreamed on Woodlands Online. Click here to register to attend the event in person: https://business.woodlandschamber.org/events/details/candidate-forum-16577.

Early voting for the Residential Design Review Committee and Village Association Elections begin February 12

The primary elections – which will cover offices from local municipal to the President of the United States and lots in between – aren’t the only elections on the calendar. For Woodlands residents, the Residential Design Review Committee and Village Association elections have been set for Saturday, February 17, with convenience voting beginning on Monday, February 12.

Voting for contested positions will take place at The Woodlands Township located at 2801 Technology Forest Blvd. Voting in the five contested races is open to residents of The Woodlands and property owners aged 18 and older in their respective villages. The following entities have contested races:

• Alden Bridge Residential Design Review Committee
• Cochran’s Crossing Village Association
• Creekside Park Residential Design Review Committee
• Grogan’s Mill Residential Design Review Committee
• Sterling Ridge Residential Design Review Committee

All other Residential Design Review Committee and Village Association races were unopposed and, therefore, no voting will be held for those races.

Convenience Voting: runs from Monday, February 12, through Friday, February 16, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Election Day Voting will take place Saturday, February 17, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

For general information about the elections, including a list of candidates filed and the full list of contested and uncontested races, visit www.thewoodlandstownship-tx.gov/februaryelection.

Be sure to stay tunes to Woodlands Online as the election season progresses through the primaries and into the general elections in November.