Fourteen volunteer deputy registrars were sworn in at the University of Texas Permian Basin Thursday morning outside the library.
The students are in the honors seminar at UTPB and Ector County Elections Bilingual Coordinator and Voter Outreach Amanda Snyder did the honors.
“Registering to vote allows us the opportunity to actively participate in the democratic process and have a say in decisions that affect our community, state and country,” Snyder said.
“Every vote counts, and registering to vote is the first step toward making your voice heard. It’s a way of making change happen. Numbers can make a big difference, especially in local races,” she added.
Associate Professor of Art Chris Stanley is one of the organizers of the swearing-in. Donna Kelm, newly elected Ector County Republican Party Chair, and State Rep. Brooks Landgraf, R-Odessa, were on hand. They missed the swearing-in ceremony as the freshmen had a biology test they had to get to.
“A number of years ago, we just had kind of a centrist pool of students, and they were all pretty much from the Midland-Odessa area. You forget that if you’re from another state, it’s a point of pride. … I’m not going to declare my residency (for Texas) … If I’m from Colorado or Arizona, I’m not going to give that up,” Stanley said.
He added that students have had some conversations with their parents about this.
Some students are also from other parts of the world. Their role, he said, can be to observe how American democracy works.
Freshman April Myers of Odessa decided to become a volunteer deputy registrar because it seemed like fun.
“I’m not really interested in politics, but I am interested in voting,” Myers said.
Myers said getting people to register to vote means you’re helping build the country’s future.
Voting, she said, “is probably one of the most important things you can do as an American citizen.”
Stanley said outreach is very important as students are culturally different than the older generation.
“They’re not as homogeneous, and so they see someone that looks a lot more like them than they’ve ever seen, and I think they’re engaged by it. I think that’s something for us to understand about leadership going into the future, is how are we reaching into this body of students and saying your ethics, your morals, your norms, here’s how we bring you in instead of treating it … as a country club and pushing people out,” Stanley said.
Snyder said her office has seen a lot of people coming in to register to vote.
“Statewide, I think we’re up 750,000 registrants since the 2022 election cycle,” Landgraf said.
Snyder said in Ector County in 2020, 14 percent voted in the Republican primary. This year in the primary, it was 11%.
In the Democratic primary, they had 4 percent in 2020 and 1 percent in 2024, Snyder said.
“We are going to do a voter trial at the Annex on Saturday 9 to 1 and maybe, hopefully, we’ll get some people in there. We’ll be offering free snow cones,” Snyder added.
Landgraf said Stanley, Snyder and Kelm are doing great work getting new registrants in.
Stanley said 14 is about the number of students that are usually sworn in. There are about 20 sophomores who are also volunteering and don’t have to be re-certified.
Numbers in the honors program fluctuate between 20 to 21 and 30. They started the volunteer deputy registrar program around 2014.
“We’re on a post-COVID recovery,” Stanley said.
The sophomores in the program have about a year of service under their belts.
“One of our challenges has always been reaching out to the specific political parties, so it’s exciting that the Republican Chairperson Donna Kelm is here so that we can have these conversations face to face about some of the challenges as to how to engage our students out in the community. We can stay here, insulated in our little courtyard, and we’re not doing bad. … We need to be at other places, at other events and so, and the students need it, too, because they need to see the community. So where do we find those opportunities … We want our students out in the community,” Stanley said.
There will also be an event at 6 p.m. Sept. 17 at Black Tulip.
Kelm said it’s extremely important to get young voters registered.
“We’ve got to get this generation involved. Like (Snyder) said, we have 88,000 registered voters, and we had 11,000 show up to vote in the primary. We’ve got to get more people involved, especially for this election,” Kelm said.
Off-year and school bond elections are important, too, she added.
“Because people need to know that it may not affect you right this moment, but further down the line that’s going to affect you,” Kelm said.
Freshman Reynaldo Ramos is the first generation in his family born in the U.S. and was sworn in as a volunteer deputy registrar Thursday. His professor brought up the volunteer deputy registrar initiative.
“I’m first generation to be born here, so I have no experience doing it, but (I’m) taking this opportunity to volunteer,” Ramos said.
He is planning to vote and he knows how important it is to get his peers to register.
“It’s important because not a lot of people are aware just how crucial it is to” vote, Ramos said.
