Voter registration deadline nears

By Sandy Morris

Thursday, April 1 is the last day to register to vote or make a change of address effective for the May 1 local election. 

Voter registration applications can be found online at votetexas.gov or filled out in person at the Tax Assessor-Collector office at the Shackelford County Courthouse.

Shackelford County voters who wish to vote by mail for the Shackelford County Hospital District can submit applications for ballots; however, the vote by mail applications for this election should not be sent to the courthouse.

To request a mail-in ballot for the May 1 local election, registered voters should contact Regina Whitt at the Shackelford County Hospital District office, PO Box 3010, Albany TX 76430.

Voters are eligible to vote by mail if they will be away from the county on Election Day and during the hours that early voting is conducted, are sick or disabled, are 65 years of age or older on Election Day, or are confined in jail. 

The hospital board has the only locally contested race in Shackelford County.

According to Whitt, early voting will be held April 19-27, with the regular election on May 1.

“All voting will be done at the EMS station at 840 Gregg Street, and voters will need to present a drivers license to vote,” said Whitt. 

Election officials Dee Balliew and Ann King will run the election for all dates. 

Only two voting machines will be used for the election with one for early voting and one for the regular election. 

The machines will be tested at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, April 8 prior to the election. 

Four candidates have filed for the three available at-large seats on the Shackelford County hospital board. 

The ballot will list incumbents Mike Folsom, Jo Ann Estridge, and Leslie Belcher, along with challenger Mary Boland. 

Directors on the hospital board serve two-year terms.