Voting information you need to know

By Riley Carroll Arts & Life Editor

Roadrunners, have you registered to vote for the Bexar County municipal elections?

Here is what you need to know about the upcoming voter registration deadlines.

What elections are coming up? What will be on the ballot?

May 6 is Bexar County’s municipal election date. This will cover elections for the mayor, all 10 City Council seats and a police reform charter amendment.

When are the elections, and where can I vote?

The election will be held on Saturday, May 6. If you plan on voting in person, early voting begins Monday, April 24, and ends Tuesday, May 2.

If you plan on voting by mail, make sure your mail-in ballot applications are received by Tuesday, April 25. Completed ballots must be received by 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 6 if the carrier envelope is not postmarked. If the carrier envelope is postmarked by 7 p.m. at the location of the election on Election Day, completed ballots must be received by 5 p.m. on Monday, May 8.

When and where can I register to vote? How do I check my voter registration status?

To vote in the May 6 election, you must register by Thursday, April 6. You can register to vote on the Texas Secretary of State website or the Bexar County Elections Department website. The state of Texas does not offer online or same-day voter registration.

How do I check my voter registration status?

You can check your voter registration status online by following the prompts on the Texas Secretary of State website or the Bexar County Elections Department website.

For a full schedule of votingrelated dates, visit https://www. sos.state.tx.us/elections/voter/ important-election-dates.shtml.

“Building the Nest is really all about supporting our students,” Green said. “We tend to focus on students’ success and bringing down economic barriers for students to help them succeed, and [ensuring] Giving Day has a big impact on student success is really our focus.”

The university’s first Giving Day took place in 2021. Since then, the event has been an annual practice. The event will start at 10:11 a.m. on Tuesday, April 4, and will continue until 7 p.m. the next day — a total of 1969 minutes that pays homage to the university’s founding year. Throughout this time, individuals can donate to the university’s different departments and programs.

Green also emphasized that sharing details about the event on social media and “[talking] about why UTSA is important [and] why people should invest in it” is just as important and helpful.

Donors can choose to donate to participating departments and programs, and other programs.

“The programs that are on the website are the ones that are being highlighted or are actively participating in Giving Day,” Green said.

All the colleges and schools at the university participate in the event alongside programs like the Roadrunner Pantry and UTSA Athletics. This year, there are around 50 projects that are currently listed on the website.

“So, all the major programs and then those efforts that are really important to our students and their success and things that donors like to support [are listed],” Green said.

“Everyone can participate in Giving Day

“Everyone can participate in Giving Day,” Green said. “Even if you can’t give a lot, a little gift counts a lot because we focus on participation. It doesn’t matter if the gift is $5 or $500. It all counts.”

In 2021, a total of 2,217 donors participated and over $344,000 was raised. In 2022, this number increased to 2,747, with a total of over $577,000 raised. For 2023, the goal is to hit 3,000 donors.

“A lot of that has to do [with the fact that] our alumni base is a little bit younger than other institutions who have been around longer than us, so we focus on just getting people to make a gift so that they can make a difference at UTSA,” Green added.

The three programs on the leaderboard with the most donations and donors can earn extra prize money. Last year, the program with the most donations and donors was UTSA Athletics, which received the prize for both categories. This year, the event also offers second and third-place prizes. Departments and programs can use the funds they raised for a variety of things like scholarships and funding for student success centers and student-related programming.

For anyone interested in donating, the event’s website — https://givingday.utsa.edu/ — will be live in the aforementioned window. In addition, more information about different departments and projects and their focus for the year can also be found on the website.