As September approaches, it is time we introduce our initiative for 2022 and beyond. REV the 134 is our effort to expand Rural Early Vote locations in this vast region. Our goal is to grow participation in the county level Democratic Primary in The 134. Early voting in rural counties is key to achieving that goal. What most fail to realize is that multiple early voting sites across Texas is the exception rather than the rule.
Ninety counties in The 134 have only one early voting location. In the map above, the counties colored red each have only one early voting location in the Democratic Primary. This map is roughly equivalent to those for the general election. These include such urban places as San Angelo, (county pop. 121,000) Granbury (county pop. 64,575) and Eagle Pass (county pop. 59,614) In fact, if we just take the top ten counties in The 134 by population, half a million people live in counties that have only one early voting location. This does not even take into account the vast distances, and the length of time it takes for people to travel to vote in our top ten largest counties by area. These counties cover over 36,000 square miles and the population density of this area averages around 3.5 persons per square mile. If we want people to vote in our primary, we must make voting in those primaries accessible and as convenient as possible
August 16 the Census Bureau will be releasing the county and city population numbers from the 2020 Census, and we will begin finalizing the list of counties we will target as a PAC to expand early voting locations. We also are committed to work with any county in The 134 that wants our help in trying to expand their early voting locations. As of now our list of target counties include Tom Green, Maverick, and Val Verde to name a few. We will also be including some smaller hard Republican very rural counties like Glasscock.
If you would like to learn more about this initiative, The 134 PAC, how you or your county can participate or schedule a time for The 134 PAC to come and speak to your local group about it, please email our Executive Director Stuart Williams at stuart@the134pac.org.
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