Dear Faculty, Staff and Students, I am reaching out to you again to remind you that our easy and convenient on-campus early voting polling location will be open today, October 30 until 8 p.m. and tomorrow, October 31 and Friday November 1 from 7 a.m. – 9 p.m in the Student Center South, Space City Room. Already, more than 5,000 students, faculty and staff have cast their vote at this location, with very short lines and little wait period. This is a great turnout for our campus, but we Cougars must continue to exercise our collective voice during this election. If you are unable to vote early, polling will be held on Election Day, Tuesday, November 5, in the Student Center South, Space City Room from 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. As a reminder, Texas law requires that voters present a valid form of ID when voting in person. You can find more information about what constitutes a valid ID here. Free parking is available at the Welcome Center Parking Garage for all of our on-campus voters. Bring your parking ticket to the polling location to be validated. Depending on the district in which you reside, you will be asked to vote on several different offices, including:
Harris County voters can access their personalized sample ballot here. For more information about elections in Harris County, visit Harris Votes. For information on the propositions and candidates visit the non-partisan League of Women Voters of Houston Voter Guide. Those registered to vote in other counties in Texas who wish to vote can visit Vote Texas for more details about polling locations and procedures in their own counties. As a reminder to all University employees that University funds, equipment, work time or other resources, as well as an employee's official authority or influence cannot be used to affect the result of any election or nomination of a candidate or to achieve any other political purpose. This is in accordance with Texas law (Section 556.004 of the Texas Government Code), as well as Board (57.01.2 – Code of Ethics) and University policy (SAM 02.A.39 – Political Aid and Legislative Influence and SAM 02.A.29 – Ethical Conduct of Employees). Please note that University employees can support or oppose a campaign, candidate or engage in other political activities on their own time and in their own personal capacity using non-University resources. Finally, the UH System SAM 02.D.04 – Leave of Absence allows employees to request, for prior approval, up to two hours off at the beginning or end of the workday to vote in person on Election Day without deduction in pay or leave time. Go Coogs and Go Vote! JASON S. M. SMITH (’09), M.C.M. |
