With the Texas voter ID law in effect you need to make sure the name on your ID matches the one on your voter registration card. If they don't, you could run into difficulty at the polls.
"For instance," said Bexar County Elections Administrator Jacque Callanen, "my name is Jacque. One document would be 'Jacque,' another would be 'Jacquelyn.' That’s a similar name."
Callanen said voters with similar names will be asked to fill out additional forms at the polling place to make the changes before voting.
The Department of Public Safety and the Texas Secretary of State’s office recently ran a comparison check between voter rolls and the Texas driver’s license list.
"They made seven million matches, which is just fantastic," Callanen said. "However, that seven million is about 50 percent of the registered voters in the State of Texas. So that means that there’s still 50 percent of the people that we need to have them double check to see that their name is the same."
Those who have had name changes due to marriage or divorce could easily run into problems.
"Some of them will have their first name, middle name, last name, or married name. Some will have their first name, their maiden name, and their married name. Some may have gotten divorced and have switched back. One document will have one last name and the other will have another last name," Callanen said.
You have until Oct. 7 to make necessary changes to your voter registration before voting on the state ballot measures in this November's election. Visit the elections website to double check your name on the voter roll through the Texas secretary of state's office.
Those without internet access can call the office at 335-VOTE to request a new voter registration card or visit the office in person.
