Eye On Houston
Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth
Erik from the Morning Bullpen on 100.3 the Bull talks with Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth about the importance of voting, lay out some key dates, various resources offered by the Harris County Clerk’s Office’s Election Department, and some tips to make it a little easier. Visit HarrisVotes.com for additional resources and information.
- Broadcast on:
- 13 Oct 2024
- Audio Format:
- other
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Head on over to the sharpestrides.com today and explore the deals that make every season better. And tell them that your girl, Tasha McKeea sent you the sharpest ride, affordable, sexy, sharp. Hey, it's Eric with a K from 100.3 The Bull, and today for ION Houston, we're really focusing not only on the community here, but on the nation because we're talking about voting. And to do that with me, I've got my friend, Harris County Clerk Huddspith. She is here with me. It is such an honor. Thanks for being here. Hello. Thank you so much for having me, Eric. This is not only a busy season for me and my office, but elections administrators across the state of Texas and across our nation. So we're glad you had a song. So we can tell voters what they need to know to access their most fundamental right. Well, I think the most important thing right away is just a vote, right? I think that we can all agree in this time where it's really easy to disagree with each other. But I think one thing we can all come together on is the fact that you need to be heard, right? That's right. Absolutely. You know, there's a lot of information flowing on any given day where there's social media, whether it's media, right? Whatever your political preference is, whatever you've decided, we believe 80% of the voting base know who they're going to vote for. It is just then starting the process to get activated. And again, it's, you know, what I say all the time is if you don't vote, you can't complain, right? Either get in the arena, you get in the arena, you make your voice heard and you do your part, or we don't want to hear your complaints. We want to know whether you were in the arena or not. There you go. I like that. So when it comes to getting in the arena, what are some of the most important things we need to know? There's some dates coming up soon, right? Absolutely. The next major deadline is October 25th to receive a ballot by mail application. Okay. Now not all voters can vote by mail. There are requirements and those requirements are you have to be 65 years or older. You have to be sick or disabled. It could be that you're a pregnant mother and you don't know if that baby's going to come do our early voting or like a you can qualify to vote by mail. Like let's say you've been put on bedrest, right? That is a real scenario. You can vote and qualify to vote by mail. If you're outside of the county traveling for work purposes, even if you're a college student and you're a registered voter of Harris County, but hey, you go to school in California, Louisiana, and you have to change your voter registration, you can vote by mail. Absent from the county is one of those. Also another qualifier is, you know, here's a scenario that I think a lot of people can relate to. Maybe you've had too many of those traffic tickets and you have been taken in for those traffic tickets and you haven't been convicted of anything. You can vote by mail as well. So those are all the qualifying ways. Again, this information is all at Harris votes dot com, but October 25th is that next major deadline for those who want to vote by mail that application has to be received in office. And then the bigger date after that is the first opportunity to early vote in person. October 21st through November 1st is 12 days of early voting. No excuses. You heard that, right? 12 whole days. This is not the election to wait and see what's going to happen, right? This is the election to go cast your ballot 12 days of extended hours to vote early and we encourage you to do so. And then of course, the last day to vote is November the 5th, which is 7 to 7. Now during early voting, you can vote at any one of our 80 plus early voting locations in Harris County. That's 80. I think we're at 88 now. It might be a couple of more added. So you can go to the nearest location or most convenient location, maybe where you shop, where you pick up the kids from school, where you work. And then on election day, there'll be 700 vote centers to choose from. Yes, Harris County is the third largest county in the nation and the largest in the state of Texas. And you can vote anywhere on election day too. If you're just joining us, it's Eric from 100.3, the bull talking to the county clerk about voting and you actually touched on something. I'll be totally honest. When it comes to voting, there are several things that sometimes confuse me when that day actually gets there. The first one is where is my location? And you said, I can find all that at Harris votes.com. The other thing that sometimes confuses me, I need to do a little bit of research before I get there because it's overwhelming when I get the ballot in my hand. Do you have all of the information listed there about what's going to be on my ballot? You got right to the next question. So after you go to Harris votes and you find what location you're going to go to under vote centers, you can also click on a tab that says sample ballot. Oh, right now at this very moment, you can go to Harris votes, click on sample ballot into your name or address and you'll be able to pull up a sample of what you'll actually see when you go to cast your ballot, whether it's by mail, whether it's early or election day. And it will have everything from president on down. Now, I know everyone is focused more on the presidential race, but remember there are tons of local races from federal to state to your local officers and those local officers meet you at your doorstep. You're likely to hear from them sooner than you are the president. And because Harris County has such a long ballot, any average voter could have anywhere from 50 to 77 contests to vote on election cycle. And so you're right. You need to go pull that sample ballot and start doing your homework and start looking at the candidates that you want to select for the ballot. Now you can print that out, mark it up, and you can actually take it into the polling location with you. As long as it's a printed record of the sample ballot or written the loss as written materials. Now, unfortunately, we're so used to using our cell phones. You can't use your cell phone or cellular devices within 100 foot of the polling location, but you can use the pushcard or the League of Women Voters Voters Guide, nonpartisan or partisan as long as it's written materials. And because we know it's a long ballot, you might want to do your homework and take your documents with you. Okay. So I never knew any of this. And I have made this mistake before where I've done the research at home. And I go, okay, I'm going to vote for this person and this person and this and this. And then I get there and I forget everything. So you're saying I can print this sample ballot. I just want to reiterate because this is so interesting to me. You can print this sample ballot. You can basically vote at home, then bring it with you and just copy your own ballot so that you know that you made the same decisions. You didn't get overwhelmed. You made informed choices from the comfort of your home. That's right. And when you get to the voting call after you qualify, they give you your access code. You have plenty of time to look at what you're doing and double check the voting machine is touch screen. And after you've made all your selections, you then print your record on a document on a piece of paper called a print vote record. So you're able to look through to make sure, hey, these are all the decisions I've made. I don't want to change anything. If you want to go back and change some things you can. But I think what's really important, especially for presidential election with so many contests, that you can take that printed sample ballot. You can take your notebook paper and make your notes as long as it's written materials into the polling location with you. So sample ballot. Here's votes has all those things from voter registration to voting by mail to early voting to elect. Hey NFL fans, you can start the season with a big return on FanDuel America's number one sports book. So when you get a hunch in the middle of the game, you can check out the latest stats, view live play by play, and so much more on the same page where you place your bets. You'll get started with $200 in bonus bets guaranteed when you place your first $5 bet. That's fandool.com/sportsfan. Never waste a hunch and make every moment more with FanDuel, an official sports book partner of the NFL. Must be 21 plus and present in Colorado. First online real moneyweights are only $10 first deposit required. Bonus issued is now a throwable bonus bet set expired seven days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fandool.com. Gambling problem, call 1-800-522-4700. Deer autumn leaves. You won't be covering roads alone this season. Toyota's lineup of cool, colorful vehicles is ready to ride by your side. Take on fall in a trail tackling Tacoma. Or go for the powerful tundra. Head to toyota.com for more info or visit your local Toyota dealership today. Toyota, let's go places. The seasons may be changing, but the deals of the sharpest rides are unbeatable as ever. Hey, what's going on? It's your girl Tasha McKeea and I need you to join the sharpest rides for their fall into savings event where they're offering incredible prices on their massive inventory. That's right, everything is on sale now. Shop from sleek sedans to rugged SUVs and sporty convertibles. The sharpest rides has the perfect ride to match your fall adventures. Plus with their exclusive financing options, getting behind the wheel of your dream car has never been easier. Log on and shop online to the sharpestrides.com right from the palm of your hands. Or check other massive inventory in person at the sharpest rides located 2,250 South Sea home street in Inglewood. Either way, you will fall into savings. Don't miss out. Head on over to the sharpestrides.com today and explore the deals that make every season better. And tell them that your girl Tasha McKeea sent you the sharpest ride, affordable, sexy, sharp action day. And here's what's even more important. If you are voting in person when you go find that vote center near issue, there's also a wait time feature. It will have a green yellow or red button highlighted near the vote center. And green obviously means go, right? Not very much traffic. A yellow means there might be a little bit of traffic. Red means there's probably a line at that vote center. So if you want to stand in line or you have time, you can. If not, you can find a vote center closer to the next closest vote center that doesn't have a line. So that wait time feature is really important. And we know for sure, turn out will be much higher this election cycle than maybe some of our local elections. Harris County, Clara Cudspith, I appreciate your time so far. I'm not done with you quite yet. But if anybody's just joining us, we're just reminding people that the election day November 5th is just around the corner. There's so many deadlines and things that you need to do to make sure that you are eligible to vote and that you're ready to vote and you're informed enough to vote on November 5th. I don't. I have friends on both sides of the aisle and we all disagree, but we can all agree that it is so important to vote. And what did you say get get in the ring? Getting the arena, right? I'm a gladiator girl. I'm a gladiator fan. And so it's like, you know, you hear all these opinions, especially with the county clerk, I hear all the opinions that you can imagine. And then I'm like, okay, so what are you doing to change that, right? Or what are you doing? And so I encourage voters everywhere I go to get into the arena and getting in the arena is a part of preparing, making a plan to vote and making your voice heard. Here are some other tidbits that voters should know because we're just we're excited. We might have our opinions and we want to really show our support for a certain candidate or measure. When you go to vote, if you have a campaign shirt or a candidate or a ball cap or button, what you're within 100 foot of that polling location, you either have to cover it up or remove it because it's considered electionary. So even though you're going to go vote and you know, you want to go the extra mile, just a reminder to voters. Hey, you know, if you're you're wearing your favorite candidates T shirt or a message that refers to the candidate, you will have to cover that up or remove it until you vote. Once you're done voting, you can in your outside, you can go and put it back on. Again, cellular devices are a big deal. Our whole world revolve around our cell phones and you just cannot use those cellular devices within 100 foot of the poll. But you can use your sample ballot. And we again, we encourage you to go to Harris votes, all things elections. That's the Harris votes dot com, but you can also follow us on social media at Facebook, X LinkedIn, Instagram, we're on all social media platforms where you can find the most important election facts as we approach each and every deadline. I am so excited to talk to you. I think this has been incredibly informative. And I just want to say from a personal standpoint that some people may see this as an obligation to make a change, but I really feel like it's an opportunity for you and your family to be heard because as a dad, as somebody who is very family centric, I mean, my kids are my entire world, this is going to affect what happens in this great city for years and years to come. So without me making those decisions, without me being part of that decision making process, I don't get to complain when my city doesn't take care of my kids down the road. So I think it's so important that everybody gets out there. Think about your family when you're making these choices and make responsible decisions by going to Harris votes.com. You sound like you're in the arena. I'm like, yeah, that's what I am. That's what I am. I have to go get that sample ballot. I really love that you said it's an opportunity rather than an obligation. I think a lot of things around elections and politics sometimes can be so negatively thought of that obligation sometimes just doesn't sound like, Hey, I'm earning this or I'm doing something to better opportunity. I love it is an opportunity to make your voice hard and to have some impact not only on your nation, but locally. So thank you for getting in the arena. Thank you for having us on today. I will encourage you all. Look, it's got to be so miss so much misinformation campaigns between now and election day. Make sure you're checking your local officials resources, right? I just gave you social media platforms. I've given you the website. Many people will share and tab and text. And I get messages all the time and half of it has nothing to do with Texas. And so, you know, misinformation will will pick up, make sure that you're checking your local, you know, hub for elections. In this case, Harris County is Harris votes to make sure you have the most pertinent information. I think you've done a great thing here today, county clerk cuts. But thank you so much for your time. Let's all get in the arena. What do you say? Thank you. Let's get in the arena. We've got a job to do. Hey NFL fans, you can start the season with a big return on FanDul, America's number one sports book. So when you get a hunch in the middle of the game, you can check out the latest stats, view live play by play, and so much more on the same page where you place your bets. You'll get started with $200 in bonus bets guaranteed when you place your first $5 bet. That's fandul.com/sportsfan. Never waste a hunch and make every moment more with FanDul, an official sports book partner of the NFL. Must be 21 plus and present in Colorado. First online real money weights are only $10 first deposit required. Bonus issued is now a throwable bonus bets that expire seven days after receipt restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fandul.com gambling problem. Call 1-800-522-4700. Dear Autumn Leaves, you won't be covering roads alone this season. Toyota's lineup of cool, colorful vehicles is ready to ride by your side. Take on fall in a trail tackling Tacoma, or go for the powerful tundra. Head to toyota.com for more info or visit your local Toyota dealership today. Toyota, let's go places. The seasons may be changing, but the deals at the sharpest rides are unbeatable as ever. Hey, what's going on? It's your girl, Tasha McKeea, and I need you to join the sharpest rides for their fall into savings events, where they're offering incredible prices on their massive inventory. That's right, everything is on sale now. Shop from sleek sedans to rugged SUVs and sporty convertibles. The sharpest rides has the perfect ride to match your fall adventures, plus with their exclusive financing options, getting behind the wheel of your dream car has never been easier. Log on and shop online at the sharpest rides.com right from the palm of your hands. Or check other massive inventory in person at the sharpest rides, located 2250 South Sea Home Street in Inglewood. Either way, you will fall into savings. Don't miss out. Head on over to the sharpest rides.com today and explore the deals that make every season better. And tell them that your girl, Tasha McKeea sent you the sharpest rides, affordable, sexy, sharp. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Whether you love true crime or comedy, celebrity interviews or news, you call the shots on what's in your podcast queue. And guess what? Now you can call them on your auto insurance too, with the name of your price tool from Progressive. It works just the way it sounds. You tell Progressive how much you want to pay for car insurance, and they'll show you coverage options that fit your budget. Get your quote today at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. 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