“… The republican controlled legislature, the governor, the lieutenant governor, the attorney general, they started to change our voting policies, and they were targeting each and every single one of you,” Beto O’Rourke said at UT Austin on Sept. 16, 2024.Â
“They can see the future just as clearly as I can. They know it is a matter of time. They know their days are numbered in office, and they fear you and they want to stop you.”Â
O’Rourke’s visit to UT Austin was part of his “Ready To Vote Tour”, organized by Powered by People and promoted by the University Democrats. The former congressman is visiting multiple universities in the state of Texas to inform them about voting rights and how to get involved in the upcoming election.Â
“In the ’22 cycle, there were 830,000 eligible 18 and 19-year-olds in the state of Texas who were eligible to vote. Of those 830,000, only 260,000 got registered. Of those 260,000 who got registered, only 70,000 of them cast a ballot. … when I look at 20 to 29-year-olds, it’s the same story.”Â
Computer Science Freshman Prithikaa Sadagopan, who attended the event, said she’s seen many things that say Texas has the potential to be a blue state if young people who are registered actually go to the polls on election day.
“I think it’s important for our government to represent what the people actually want and the only way for that to happen is if we vote the people we want into the government,” Sadagopan said.
For people to get into Jester Auditorium, where the event was held, they had to register to vote prior to arrival or at the doors. A representative from Powered by People stated that the majority of attendees were already registered prior to attending but simply needed to update their address.
Health and Society Freshman Sarah Vo thinks it’s important for Austin residents to utilize the polling places since they are easily accessible.
“Especially this term, we have the right, we need to exercise it and also I like having rights, I like having the ability to know what will happen to myself at any moment and I think other people should be passionate about that too,” she said.
O’Rourke believes Texans should vote, “whether you care about the fact that 19 kids were slaughtered in a classroom in Uvalde along with their two teachers, … [that] 700 Texans died, frozen to death in their bed, … [or] the most obscene abortion ban anywhere in America.”
“If we get registered, we can vote,” he said.
Voter registration in Texas ends October 7, 2024. To learn more, visit https://www.votetexas.gov/register-to-vote/update-voter-registration.html.