This document provides a voter guide for the 2010 midterm elections in Texas. It outlines key races and ballot initiatives, identifies requirements for voter registration and identification, explains how and where to vote including early voting and absentee/mail-in voting, and provides information for voters who have moved or have a criminal history. The guide aims to inform voters on what is at stake in the election, the candidates and their positions, and voting rules and deadlines so citizens can make informed decisions in the election.

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2. T E X A S
2010 MidterM elections VOTER GuIDE
What is the voter guide?
On November 2nd, the mid-term elections will be held all across America.
You will decide who will represent you in Congress and in your State
Capitol. Do you know who is running to represent you? Do you know
where they stand on issues that will affect your everyday life?
If not, don't worry… we got your back: This voter guide tells you what you
need to know before you step in the voting booth.
What's at stake?
Real talk, we are all struggling to answer some basic questions about our lives:
accessible & Comprehensive take on predatory lenders and de-
health Care velopers, and provide emergency
housing for people in crisis.
Can i see a doctor?
We believe high quality physical Climate Justice
and mental health care, including & Clean energy
full reproductive health services and
prescription drugs, is a right and must Can we survive?
be affordable and accessible to all. Real talk: Its now or never. We
should be a leader in building a
affordable & clean energy future. This will cre-
accessible housing ate millions of new jobs, improve
Can i have a place to live? our health, and avoid future wars.
We believe decent, safe, accessible We need to get serious switching
and affordable housing is a right from dirty coal and nuclear power
for all. The government should to wind and solar energy.

3. • • • • 2 01 0 M i dt e r M e l ec t i o n s VOT E R G u I D E • • • •
healthy Jobs & economy safety in our World
Can i make a decent living? Can we have real peace and
We believe workers, the backbone safety?
of this country, have a right to paid Real national security comes from
sick days and a living family wage. being a respected and respectful
Workers should have the right to member of the global community.
organize without fear. This is how This means ending torture and other
we revive the middle class and al- human rights abuses. It also means
leviate poverty. ending the war in Iraq and offering
strategic humanitarian relief.
Quality & affordable education
Can i go to college without being voting rights &
in debt for the rest of my life? election reform
We believe every young person Can i vote? Will my vote be
in this country has the right to a counted? What's up with politicians
high-quality, affordable education trying to make it harder for us to
from pre-school through college. vote? Why can't i register and vote
on the same day, like my friends in
rights for New americans Minnesota and Wisconsin? Can i be
Can i be treated with respect sure my vote is counted?
regardless of where i was born? We believe voting is a right for
Immigration policy should not all citizens, including students
criminalize people for seeking attending college out of state,
a better life. We are a nation of felons, and people who need
immigrants and diversity is our special help to participate. We
strength. We need fair and hu- support public financing to take
mane immigration reform that money out of politics. We oppose
keeps families together, offers ID requirements and other
pathways to citizenship, fair com- discriminatory barriers to voting.
pensation, and basic services like
health care and college loans.
safe Communities
Can i feel safe on my street?
Building more prisons doesn’t
make us safer. Instead of our generation
spending $40,000 a year is facing a critical moment
locking someone up, that will define our country for
we should invest in job years to come. as a coalition of new
training, education voters, we were a huge factor in both
counselors, drug rehab 2006 and 2008. We will be the difference
and programs that lift again in this election! too much is at stake in
people up. We must this election to sit this out… get to know where
take the safety of the candidates stand on our issues, then get
women seriously in out and vote on November 2nd!
our homes and on
the streets. We’ve got this and other non partisan
voter guides online, so check us out at
www.generationalalliance.org — share it
with your friends, send to your mom.

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In our state, there are ballot initiatives that put crucial decisions
on important issues in the hands of the voters in the state. In the
upcoming election there are no ballot initiatives in Texas.
In order to know who you want to vote for, you need to know
what they’re responsible for. Then you can check out how they
stand on the issues you care about. We’ve highlighted one race
but to see all the races check out Texas’ board of elections page.
the goverNor:
• Oversees all public related op- Who’s running?
erations (I.e. paying taxes, cars
kathie glass
(DMV), construction, education,
Libertarian Party
legal matters, law enforcement)
www.kathie4guv.com
• Communicates directly with the 512-308-6936
state legislature
rick Perry
• Accounts for all state money Republican Party
received and spent www.rickperry.org
• Appoints certain officers as re- 512-478-3276
quired by the state constitution deb shafto
and statutes and fills vacancies Green Party
in state offices www.electdebshafto.org
• Signs or vetoes bills passed by No Phone Number Listed
the Legislature Bill White
• Calls elections to fill vacancies for Democratic Party
members of the u.S. Congress www.billwhitefortexas.com
713-659-9000
• Issues requisitions for the return
of accused persons
• Enforces all criminal laws

5. • • • • 2 01 0 M i dt e r M e l ec t i o n s VOT E R G u I D E • • • •
S o
texas election you’ve
Protection information made your
If you need more information about decision about
election rules and regulations
which candidate
contact the Secretary of State
at: http://www.sos.state.tx.us, you’re voting for
the County Voting Clerk’s office and what you’re
at: http://www.sos.state.tx.us/ voting on but before
elections/voter/county.shtml, or
visit the 866 OurVote website at: you head to the
http://www.866ourvote.org a polls; make sure
resource created by the Lawyers’ you know if you’re
Committee for Civil Rights under
Law and its partners.
registered, how
to vote, and
Polling Place hours
where to
Election Day: November 2, 2010
vote.
Polls are open during early voting
and on election days from 7 a.m. • A copy of a
until 7 p.m. current utility
bill, bank state-
how to Check registration ment, government
• Call 1-866-OUR-VOTE. check, paycheck, or other gov-
ernment document that shows
• Visit the Secretary of State’s
the voter’s name and address.
website.
• Any other form of identification
identification required to vote
prescribed by the Texas Secre-
Acceptable identification includes: tary of State.
• A driver’s license or personal how to Find Your Polling Place
identification card issued by an
• Call 1-866-OUR-VOTE
agency of another state, even if
the license or card has expired. • Visit the Secretary of State’s
website.
• A form of identification that con-
tains the voter’s photograph and absentee voting
establishes the voter’s identity. Absentee voting is allowed if the
• A birth certificate or other voter:
document that confirms birth • Will be away from your county
and is admissible in a court of on Election Day and during
law to establish identity. early voting
• United States citizenship papers. • Is sick or disabled
• A United States passport. • Is 65 years of age or older on
• Official mail addressed to the Election Day
voter by name from a govern- • Is confined in jail, but eligible to
mental entity. vote

6. rules and deadlines: and (b) the voter is faxing the
Formal applications for request- application from outside the
ing an absentee ballot are avail- county.
able from: The Early Voting Clerk must receive
• The Secretary of State’s office a marked ballot by 7 p.m. on Elec-
tion Day or, if mailing a ballot from
• The Early Voting Clerk (Can be
outside the united States, by the
found through the Secretary of
5th day after Election Day (Over-
State’s website) in the county
seas ballots must be mailed no
where the voter is registered
later than 7 p.m. on Election Day).
• Or from the Secretary of State’s
early voting
website
Early voting in person generally
If not submitting a formal applica- starts 17 days before each election
tion, a voter may submit a written and ends 4 days before each elec-
request for an absentee ballot in- tion. For this election, early voting
cluding the following information:
begins on October 18th and ends
• Voter’s signature, or a witness’ October 29th. A voter may vote
signature if the voter cannot sign early in-person at any early voting
• Voter’s name and the address location in the county.
at which they are registered to Poll hours for early voting varies
vote by county and by week, please
• The address to which the ballot contact your County Voting Clerk’s
is to be mailed Office for their hours. On election
day polls will be open from 7 a.m.
• The election date and the elec- until 7 p.m.
tion for which you are request-
ing a ballot; and information For People who have
Moved or Changed addresses
• A reason why the voter is eli-
Moving within the Same County
gible to vote early by mail. For
voters voting by mail because • If a voter has moved within
they expect to be out of the the same county where they
county, the application must are currently registered, the
state the out-of-county ad- voter must file the new address
dress where the ballot should information in writing with the
be mailed voter registrar in that county.
The application must be received The voter may also submit the
(not postmarked) by the Early in-county change online.
Voting Clerk at the county Voter • The last day to make a change
Registrar office in order to vote by of address for this election is
October 26, 2010 October 4th.
Applications may be sent by: • If a voter misses this deadline,
• Regular mail they may return to their old pre-
cinct to vote, and will be required
• Common or contract carrier to complete a “statement of
• Fax if (a) a Fax machine is avail- residence” confirming their new
able to the Early Voting Clerk address in their new precinct.

7. • • • • 2 01 0 M i dt e r M e l ec t i o n s VOT E R G u I D E • • • •
Moving to Another County information for People with
Felony Convictions
• If a voter has moved to a new
county, they must re-register in In Texas, a convicted felon regains
their new county of residence the right to vote after completing
by October 4th to be eligible to his or her sentence. Once a person
vote in the November 2, 2010 has completed the punishment
General Election. phase (including any term of in-
carceration, parole, or supervision,
• If the voter does not re-register, or completed a period of proba-
they may be eligible to vote tion ordered by the court), they
a limited ballot in their new will have needed to re-register by
county. October 4th in order to vote in the
• A limited ballot means that the general election.
voter would be allowed to vote For more information, visit the Sec-
on any candidates and measures retary of State website, or visit the
in common between the former 866 OurVote website to download
and new county. a Texas Election Protection Manual.
• The voter must have been an
eligible voter in their former
county when they moved in
order to qualify and they must
vote during the early voting pe-
riod-either in-person or, if they
meet the vote-by-mail criteria,
by mail. Voters may not vote a
limited ballot on Election Day.

8. The Generational Alliance (www.generationalalliance.org) is a 501(c)3
collaboration of 15 national youth organizations building collective power
for underrepresented & low-income communities. We're working together
to win real change for our generation on the issues we face on a daily basis.
We're not just around for the election.
Our members are on the block 24-7, 365 days of the year to bring the
change that our communities need. The GA members have come together
with our strategic partners to make sure our communities have all the
information they need to get out there and vote this election because our
generation is facing a critical moment that will define our country for years
to come. Too much is at stake in this election to sit this out…