Submitting The Ballot as a First Time Voter

After my 18th birthday, I was eager to go and vote and was lucky enough to be eligible before the 2020 election.

The first step in the process was registering to vote. This was a very easy process and took about 15 minutes in total to complete. I printed out the voter registration form that I found on the vote Texas website. I then filled it out before going to a registration drive-through just minutes from my house. There, I gave my form to one of the volunteers and waited to get my official voting registration card in the mail. The volunteers at the drive-through also gave me a sheet marked with official places to vote, which came in handy when the time to vote came.

When it was time for me to vote, I looked on the sheet they gave me and saw that Brookhaven Community College was a confirmed voting location, and since it is close to my house, it seemed to be the most convenient location.

I was a little apprehensive going into the voting center because it was my first time and I didn’t know what to expect, but when I arrived I was pleasantly surprised by how welcoming and helpful the volunteers were.

I explained to the man who checked me in that I had just turned 18 and my license was expired because I hadn’t gotten the chance to renew it yet. He assured me that an expired license was perfectly acceptable as long as I also had my voter registration card.

After getting checked in I headed over to the socially distanced voter booths and was given a stylist to use on the screens to prevent any contact with the surface due to COVID-19 regulations. The process was faster than I expected and I completed it in ten minutes total.

I was one of the many Americans who decided to vote early in record-breaking numbers. This has been a time of first for us all, (living through our first pandemic, having our first school year online, etc.) but I am happy that it was also the first time for me to vote.