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University and county officials prepare for the upcoming early voting and Election Day by encouraging students and residents to participate in the electoral process.
The UTRGV Center for Student Involvement and Vaqueros Vote organization hosted National Voter Registration Day events Tuesday at the Brownsville campus and Wednesday on the Edinburg campus.
Brandon Sanchez, program coordinator for civic engagement and leadership, said the event’s goal was to get students to register to vote and be eligible to participate during the next election cycle.
He added that it is “very important” for students to do their civic duty in elections because they have the ability to make a difference within their community, state and country.
“We just want them to know that they’re empowered, and we’re here to help them throughout the process,” Sanchez said.
Early voting for the 2026 general elections will take place Oct. 19-30, and Election Day will be on Nov. 3, according to Hidalgo and Cameron County elections administrators.
The deadline to submit a new voter registration application or to make changes to an existing application is Oct. 5.
According to county officials, as of 2026, Hidalgo County has 466,557 registered voters and Cameron County has 241,000 registered voters.
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Hilda Salinas, elections administrator for Hidalgo County, said Hidalgo has 32 polling locations open throughout the county, including the UTRGV Edinburg campus. The location will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., with the exception of Oct. 25, when the campus location will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. during early voting.
Salinas said UTRGV’s Edinburg campus is a permanent Hidalgo polling location that attracts a high voter turnout.
“I encourage, you know, students, faculty as well as constituents of voters to visit that location as well as all the others during early voting and 69 that we do have open on election day to cast their ballot,” she said.
For Cameron County, there are 21 polling locations throughout the county, including the UTRGV Brownsville campus, according to the Cameron County Elections & Voter Registration website.
As reported by The Rider on Oct. 21, 2025, UTRGV Brownsville campus was not a polling location during early voting.
“… It’s an opportunity for people [who] find themselves sort of landlocked at the university to be able to get to a polling place and cast their ballot,” Remy Garza, elections administrator for Cameron County, replied when asked about having a polling location at the Brownsville campus.
He said he hopes students take advantage of having the polling location on campus during early voting and election day.
“It’s something we want to do for future elections and hopefully we’ll be able to continue it,” Garza said. “The challenge we always have is that sometimes the elections fall within finals week, or times when the students aren’t on campus.”
Garza said Cameron County has important local races, such as county judges and county commissioners.
“Locally, we’ve got 11 other jurisdictions that are holding elections at the same time,” Garza said. “But specifically, if you live in the Brownsville area, or you’re registered to vote in Brownsville, there are a number of charter amendments that are being submitted and they’re very lengthy.”
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He added that it is “extremely important” for residents to look at sample ballots so they can read them in advance.
“So, you’re not trying to read them when you’re actually standing in the voting booth, and if you can, print the sample ballot yourself so that you can carry that into the polling place,” Garza said.
He said the sample ballots will be available at the beginning of October for residents to start looking at what will be on their ballot.
Salinas said Hidalgo residents will see federal, state and county and local entity elections on their ballots.
“Right now, we are finalizing the sample ballots,” she said. “So, once they are finalized, they will be shared on our social media accounts as well as our web page, so we ask voters to keep a lookout for that.”
The 2026 general election includes state and federal races, which are for the Texas Senate and Texas Governor elections.
Salinas said Hidalgo County is expecting a high voter turnout during this election.
Garza said Cameron County is expected to have a higher turnout than usual and estimated that 42% to 47% of registered voters may participate.
For more information on early voting and election day, visit hidalgocounty.us or call 318-2570 for Hidalgo residents. Visit cameroncountytx.gov/elections for Cameron residents.
