Registered voters in Travis County should start receiving their new voter certificates this week, with the first being delivered today. If you don’t get yours soon, check in with Nelda Wells Spears, the county tax assessor-collector and voter registrar. Reasons why you may not have received one include: you moved or you haven’t been voting in recent elections. See the press release after the jump:
CERTIFIED TO VOTE:
TRAVIS COUNTY VOTER CERTIFICATES DELIVERED!
(AUSTIN) — Approximately 460,000 registered voters in Travis County will receive new voter certificates by mail starting today. The new certificates look exactly like the old ones with a few notable exceptions:
1. Orange is the new color, replacing the current yellow certificate that expires 12/31/07
2. A new state-issued identification number, VUID, appears in the upper left corner.
3. “Date of birth” now appears as “year of birth”.
“Federal and state laws change what voters see on their certificate,” said Travis County Tax Collector and Voter Registrar, Nelda Wells Spears. “For example, the state now issues the ’VUID’ number, which stands for Voter Unique Identification. Now when voters move within Texas, the state keeps track of where to add or cancel a record.”
Spears estimates 14% of the certificates (68,000) will be returned because they cannot be delivered to the address provided by the voter. If a voter moved and provided a forwarding address at the post office, a follow up letter goes out from the tax office requesting an address update. If the voter fails to respond, the record is placed in a suspense file. While this action does not prevent voting, it but may cause a delay at the polling place on election day. Address updates can be made online if the voter has moved within the county. Find the link at www.traviscountytax.org.
“In a presidential election year, all voters want to know they have what they need to vote,” said Spears. Anyone who did not receive a voter certificate and needs to update address may download the form at www.traviscountytax.org or call 854-9473 anytime to order by mail.
The Travis County Tax Office is located at 5501 Airport Boulevard, between Koenig Lane and 53œ Street. The office opens at 7:30 a.m. and closes at 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Drive-through service and a deposit box for non-cash payment are available.
Satellite offices offer convenience to those in East Austin, Oak Hill, Pflugerville and near Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. All satellite offices open at 8:00 am and close at 5:00 pm.
East Austin – 4705 Heflin Lane at Springdale and MLK Blvd (drive through service)
Oak Hill Office – 8656 Highway 71W Building B, second floor
Pflugerville Office – 15822 Foothill Farms Loop (drive through service)
Southeast Office – 4011 McKinney Falls Parkway (drive through service)
Call (512) 854-9473 for assistance at all locations.
This article appears in November 23 • 2007.