We are currently working on our 2022-2023 programming calendar. Check back once the semester begins!

Jump to: Politics in Texas | Deliberative Dialogues | Newman Civic Fellowship | Voter Registration | Constitution Day | General Civic Engagement Resources | About LSC-M Center for Civic Engagement |

 Programs Accessible Anytime (Pre-recorded Virtual Programs)

Pre-recorded Events Accessible Anytime.

What Should I Know about Voting in Texas in 2022? (Pre-recorded Twitter Space Conversation from The Texas Tribune).

The Texas Tribune’s executive editor, Ross Ramsey, joined Alexa Ura, the Tribune’s demographics reporter and associate editor, to discuss the basics on how voters can participate in elections as well as things to watch out for in the 2022 election year, including redistricting, lawsuits and statewide races. In September, Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 1 into law. The sweeping legislation further tightens state election laws and constrains local control of elections by limiting counties’ ability to expand voting options. In last week’s conversation, Ura detailed the changes in voting that individuals might experience, and what they can do to prevent more trouble at the polls. To access this recording, click here.

Facts Versus Fiction: Critical Race Theory and its Role in our Current Conversations on Race, Equity, & Justice (Pre-recorded Webinar from GlobalMindED).

Dr. Ryan Ross; Associate Vice Chancellor Student Affairs, Equity, & Inclusion, Colorado Community College System leads the conversation with Omar Montgomery; Director of Equity, Culture, and Community Engagement, Cherry Creek School District, Regan Byrd; Founder and Principal Consultant, Regan Byrd Consulting LLC, and Dr. Dedrick Sims; CEO, Sims-Fayola Foundation. Access the video here.

"Mental Health and Resilience in Unscripted Times" Health Equity (Pre-recorded Webinar from GlobalMindED).

Health Equity Session - Dr. Pierre Theodore; VP Global External Innovation Johnson & Johnson leads the discussion with Liz Sweigart; Partner, PWC, workplace mental health advocate, Ron Lessard; Acting Executive Director, White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education, Gurchaten Sandhu; President, UN GLOBE Program Officer of Non-Discrimination, International Labor Org. and Josh Lee. Access the video here.

Politics in Texas

The following are programs specifically about political issues in Texas (updated regularly).

Redistricting:

Texas recently went through the redistricting process. For the most up-to-date information on this process, click here.

Programs/Resources on Gerrymandering:

What is Gerrymandering (video by the Gerrymandering Project from fivethirtyeight)

Participate in Local Politics

Local elections are just as important as the Presidential election. Take advantage of opportunities such as volunteering for a local campaign, attending a virtual local political event, or even watching a local candidate debate.

Click here for a list of suggestions for getting involved in state/local politics

Deliberative Dialogues

Participate in either a LSC sponsored Deliberative Dialogue or one facilitated by the National Issues Forum. Deliberative dialogues are a program established by the National Issues Forums (NIF), which is a nonpartisan, nationwide network of locally sponsored public forums for the consideration of public policy issues. It is rooted in the simple notion that people need to come together to reason and talk—to deliberate about common problems. These forums offer citizens the opportunity to join together to deliberate, to make choices with others about ways to approach difficult issues and to work toward creating reasoned public judgment. The forums provide a way for people of diverse views and experiences to seek a shared understanding of the problem and to search for common ground for action.

Upcoming Deliberative Dialogues

Click here for upcoming virtual Deliberative Dialogues facilitated by the National Issues Forum.

Newman Civic Fellowship Program

The Newman Civic Fellowship is a one-year fellowship experience for community-committed students from Campus Compact member institutions that supports students’ personal, professional, and civic development.  Through the LSC-M Center for Civic Engagement we are a member institution of Campus Compact. The fellowship is a yearlong opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students to nurture their assets and passions, engage in collaborative action, and act to address inequality and polarization. Through the fellowship, Campus Compact provides in-person and virtual learning opportunities focused on building the skills fellows need to serve as effective agents of change.

Students who would be qualified nominees will have done one or more of the following during the last year:

• Engage in collaborative action with others from campus or from surrounding communities in order to create long-term social change
• Take action in addressing issues of inequality and political polarization
• Demonstrate the motivation and potential for effective long-term civic engagement

To qualify, students must also have at least one year of their education remaining (either at their current institution or at a different one) such that they will be enrolled in higher education for the duration of the 2023-2024 academic year.

Once the 2023-2024 cycle begins, more info will be posted here.

More information can be found on the Campus Compact website here.

Voter Registration

Voting is the right you use to protect all of your other rights.  Please be a voter.

Voteriders.org for assistance (including financial) to obtain an acceptible Photo ID.

Vote411.org - League of women Nonpartisan Voter Guide

Voter Info

If you have moved since you last registered to vote, you need to update your voter registration to change your address: 

• • If you moved within the same county, you can change your address online.
  • If you have moved to another county, you must re-register by submitting a new voter registration application.

NOTE: All address changes can be done online, even across county lines. If someone is already registered they do not need to submit another application if they are now in another county.

Senate Bill 5, passed by the 85th Legislature, Regular Session, requires voters who possess an acceptable form of photo identification for voting listed below to present that identification in order to vote in person in all Texas elections. For voters aged 18-69, the acceptable form of photo identification may be expired no more than four years before being presented for voter qualification at the polling place. For voters aged 70 or older, the acceptable form of photo identification may be expired for any length of time if the identification is otherwise valid.  Voters who do not possess an acceptable form of photo identification and cannot reasonably obtain one of the forms of acceptable photo identification listed below may present a supporting form of identification and execute a Reasonable Impediment Declaration, noting the voter’s reasonable impediment to obtaining an acceptable form of photo identification, stating that the information contained in the declaration is true, that the voter is the same individual personally appearing at the polling place to sign the declaration, and that the voter faces a reasonable impediment to procuring an acceptable form of photo identification.

Here is a list of the acceptable forms of photo ID:

• Texas Driver License issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS)
• Texas Election Identification Certificate issued by DPS
• Texas Personal Identification Card issued by DPS
• Texas Handgun License issued by DPS
• United States Military Identification Card containing the person’s photograph
• United States Citizenship Certificate containing the person’s photograph
• United States Passport (book or card)

For more information on required ID for voting and potential exemptions, click here.

Should you need additional information, please contact VoteTexas.Gov via telephone at 1-800-252-VOTE (8683) or click here to send an email.

Voter Registration

Check if you are already registered here.

To register to vote in Texas, simply complete a voter registration application and return it to your county election office at least 30 days before the upcoming election date.  To complete an application, you may:

1. Complete an application using the SOS ONLINE VOTER REGISTRATION APPLICATION by simply filling in the required information, printing the form, signing it, and mailing it directly to your county election office; pr
2. Request a PRINTED APPLICATION and a voter registration application will be mailed to the address provided; or
3. Contact or visit your local VOTER REGISTRAR to complete the voter registration process; or
4. Go to TurboVote's LSC specific website to be walked through the registration process.

You are eligible to register to vote if:

1. You are a United States citizen;
2. You are a resident of the county where you submit the application;
3. You are at least 17 years and 10 months old, and you are 18 years of age on Election Day.
4. You are not a convicted felon (you may be eligible to vote if you have completed your sentence, probation, and parole); and
5. You have not been declared by a court exercising probate jurisdiction to be either totally mentally incapacitated or partially mentally incapacitated without the right to vote.

Want to help out with elections?

Volunteer Deputy Registrar Program

Volunteer Deputy Registrars are entrusted with the responsibility of officially registering voters in the State of Texas. Appointments are made on a county-by-county basis only, not statewide. The acceptance of duties of a volunteer deputy registrar places you in a position of trust and responsibility to the citizens you will register to vote.

• Montgomery County Volunteer Deputy Registrar Program
• Harris County Volunteer Deputy Registrar Program
• Liberty County Volunteer Deputy Registrar Program
• Walker County Volunteer Deputy Registrar Program

Become a Poll Worker

If you have ever voted in person, you probably already know that a majority of folks who work at the polling places are retired and are at higher risk for experiencing severe complications from COVID-19. If you are someone who is not at high risk, think about applying to become a poll worker. For more information visit: Move Texas.

Constitution Day

September 17th is Constitution Day! Every year, LSC-M celebrates the Constitution; however, you don't have to wait until Constitution Day to learn more about it.  Take some time to read the Constitution here.You can also access founding documents and learn more about how each provision was created and changed over time. There is also a great theaterical production, FOURTEEN, that sheds light on the Reconstruction era and the ratification of the 14th Amendment through dramatic interpretation of original texts, performers use the words of the 39th Congress as they debate the propsed 14th Amendment to the Constitution.

General Civic Engagement Resources

The following are resources provided by the LSC-M CCE.

Free Speach Info Sheet (updated Spring 2021)

Safe Protesting Info Sheet (updated Spring 2021)

4 Moves and a Habit: Steps to Assess Validity of News Stories (updated Spring 2021)

If Not You...A Civic Engagement Podcast

Episodes of this podcast cover a wide range of topics related to civic engagement.  The first 5 episodes involve an introduction to specific civic engagement subjects and interviews with different folks who are living civic engagement in very different ways.

Below are links to listen to each episode in addition to a breakdown of the episode’s topics, a list of referred to concepts with definitions and sources, and some links related to the episode’s content.

Click here for a list of episodes.

About the Lone Star College - Center for Civic Engagement

The Center for Civic Engagement at Lone Star College- Montgomery facilitates nonpartisan learning opportunities for students, faculty, staff, and community members to encourage them to become more engaged citizens.  Our goal is to aid in the development of critical thinking, personal responsibility, and civil discourse skills in participants so that they develop a sense of urgency about issues and talk and act more in their communities, be it their classroom, campus, local, state, national, or global communities.

• Critical Thinking - We will provide learning opportunities for individuals to develop a better understanding of community issues and a more critical examination of all the explanations as to why the issue exists and what can be done to address it.

• Personal Responsibility - We will identify and create opportunities for individuals to become actively involved in addressing issues that exist within their communities.

• Civil Discourse - We will empower individuals to promote interests or causes important to their community while still being able to hear and understand multiple perspectives and engage in productive conversations.

LSC-M Participates in:

         

For more information about the LSC-Montgomery CCE, contact Michele Richey.