Saturday, December 12, 2009

New Election Precincts For The 2010 Election Cycle

Beginning in late December 2009 the Collin County Registrar's Office will begin sending out new Blue and White 2010-2011 voter registration cards to every "active" registered voter in the county.

Because Collin County's population has grown since the 2008-2009 orange registration cards were issued two years ago, a few of Collin County's election precincts have been split into two or three election precincts. As of January 1, 2010 Collin County will have sixteen new election precincts. (see table below) Voters living in the "redistricted" election precincts will find new precinct numbers on their new Blue 2010-2011 voter registration cards. (Collin County's interactive district maps tool / Redistricting Plan PDF / Click on image below for enlarged picture.)Here is a description of some of the fields on the voter registration card:
  1. VUID – This is your 10-digit statewide Voter Unique Identification Number issued by the Secretary of State’s office. This number remains the same as long as you are a registered voter in the State of Texas regardless of the County in which you reside or if you move from one County in Texas to another.
  2. Prec. No. – Your precinct is based upon your residence address and determines your Election Day polling location.
  3. Valid from January 1, 2010 thru December 31, 2011. Upon expiration, new certificates are automatically mailed to voters with active registrations.
  4. Name and Permanent Residence Address – Your name and address of residence as provided when you registered to vote. Your election precinct (polling place) is based upon this address.
  5. X signature line. The "fine print" below the signature line says, "VOTER MUST PERSONALLY SIGN HIS/HER NAME IMMEDIATELY UPON RECEIPT, IF ABLE."
  6. Voted in the ________ Party Primary. When voting in a primary election, you must state in which political party's primary you will vote. Your selection will then be stamped in this space on your registration card. This also helps ensure you will receive a ballot from the same party should a runoff election be required. If you did not vote in the initial primary but would like to vote in a subsequent runoff, you will be able to make your party selection at that time. You must vote in a party's primary election to qualify to attend that party's precinct, county and state conventions. You will present your stamped registration card when you check in for the precinct convention as proof that you did vote in the primary election.
  7. Various Election Districts
    • CONGRESS - U.S. House of Representative District Number
    • STATE SEN. - Texas Legislature - State Senate District Number
    • STATE REP. - Texas Legislature - State House of Representatives District Number
    • COM - Collin County Commissioners Court Precinct
    • JP - Justice of the Peace District
    • CITY - City
    • CITY DIST. - City District Subdivision
    • ISD - Independent School District
    • ISD DIST. - Independent School District Subdivision
    • SBOE - State Board of Education
  8. Cert No. - This is your Collin County Voter Unique Identification Number.
  9. BARCODE – This is an internal tracking number which should be electronically scanned by poll workers at a polling location to check-in voters. Please DO NOT cut the bar code off of the card!!
  10. Mailing Address – Just below the Bar Code is your Mailing Address provided by you indicating where you wish to receive your mail. This address is not used in determining your precincts or in which races you will be eligible to vote.
Old Pct Comments Split Into New Pct
006 Along ISD lines 168
014 Along major roads 167
017 Along major roads 172
025 Along ISD and City lines 165-Parker
166-WISD
027 Along major roads 174
029 Along major roads 178
045 Along ISD lines 179
055 Along City of Dallas lines 164
056 Along City of Sachse lines 170
111 Along major roads 177
116 Along major roads 176
126 Along McKinney ISD lines 169
140 2 splits - top absorbed into 155 173
157 Along major roads 171
159 Along major roads 175
Texas election code (Section §42.006) says that a county election precinct may not contain more than 5,000 registered voters.

Last spring the Collin County Commissioner's Court approved a request made by the County Registrar's Office to split several existing election precincts to form new precincts, effective January 1, 2010.

The table (right) shows the old precincts that are giving part of their 2008-2009 geographic area over to the new 2010-2011 election precincts.

If you do not received your blue 2010-2011 Voter's Registration Card by late January 2010, call the Collin Co. Registrar's Office to check on your voting status.

If have moved or you have not voted in an election in Collin County during the past two years, your voter registration record may have been suspended or even canceled. Check your registration status here.

If your voter registration record has been suspended or canceled, or you have never registered to vote in Collin County you must take action to be properly registered by February 2, 2010 in order to vote in either the Democratic or Republican Party March 2, 2010 Primary Election. Voter Registration Applications must be post marked on or before February 2, 2010 in order to become properly registered to vote in the primary.

Have you ever registered to vote? In general, you are eligible to vote in Collin County if you are a United States Citizen, a resident of the county, will be 18 years old before election day, are not a convicted felon and have not been declared mentally incapacitated. For specific information and to determine your eligibility, click here to visit the Secretary of State’s web site and read the pamphlet on Texas Voting. Check whether you are already registered to vote here and if you are not yet registered to vote, get your Voter's Registration application here.

Please remember to take your Voter's Registration Card with you to the polling place when you vote. Several forms of identification (in place of your voter registration card) are acceptable, but
early voting election clerks can use the bar code on the registration card to electronically verify your voter registration status. This makes the early voting lines move much faster for everyone!!! Please DO NOT cut the bar code off of the card!! Click here to find forms of identification, other than your voter registration certificate, that you may use to vote.

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