VOTER NEWSLETTER
Vol. 65, No. 7 February 2026 Editor: Virginia Marsh
| | Inside this Issue
- Social at Little Greek
- Filing as a candidate for the RISD Board
- Key Dates for the March 3 Primary Election
- Our Website and VOTE411
- Local Elections May 2
- Naturalization Events
- Democracy Resolutions
- What USPS Updates mean for You
- CHIP/Children's Medicaid Application Assistance
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Key Dates in February 2026
- Feb 13 Deadline to have your name as a candidate on the RISD Ballot
- Feb 14 Children's Medicaid Application Assistance
- Feb 17 League Social Event at Little Greek
- Feb 17 First Day of Early Voting in the March 3 Primary
- Feb 20 Last day for Vote-by-Mail applications to be received
- Feb 27 Last Day of Early Voting in the March 3 Primary
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Social Event: February 17, 2026
| All members, prospective members, and friends of the League of Women Voters of Richardson are invited to our February social. It will be on Tuesday, February 17th at 6:30 p.m. at Little Greek (SE corner of Coit & Campbell) . This is also a fundraiser. Tell your friends because the League will receive a portion of sales all day long for all patrons showing the flyer or mentioning the League of Women Voters of Richardson.
A good time will be had by all. See you there!
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Deadlines to File as a Candidate
for the RISD Board of Trustees
| In the May 2, 2026, Local Election, two Richardson ISD School Board positions will be on the ballot:
- Single-Member District 3 (Debbie Renteria, incumbent) and
- At Large Place 6 (Eric Eager, incumbent).
The filing period ends
- on February 13, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. to have your name placed on the ballot
- on February 17, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. to be a write-in candidate on the ballot
You may pick up an application at the Richardson ISD Administration Building (400 S. Greenville Avenue, Richardson 75081) during normal business hours or request an electronic application packet by clicking here.
Click here to see RISD's Notice of Deadline to File an Application for Place on the Ballot.
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Key Dates for the
March 3, 2026 Primary Election
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Visit our website for information regarding
the March 3rd Primary Elections
| The Richardson League's website is undoubtedly one of the most helpful ways the League of Women Voters serves the public. Our website if full of nonpartisan, accurate information regarding every upcoming election.
Another nonpartisan, accurate, useful resource is the League's VOTE411.org website. If you have not used it previously, a voter can go to the site, put in their address and find exactly what will be on their personal ballot. Plus, the candidate responses to questions (if they choose to reply) give information to help voters discern positions and qualifications for their future leaders. As many of you know, U.S. Congressional maps for Texas have changed and the updated maps can also be found in VOTE411. This election information you will need should be available about 30 days before the election.
Early voting for the March 3 Primary election is from February 17-27.
This year in particular, changes in polling places in Dallas County are leading to confusion. Voting early may simplify the process as countywide centers will be set up where voters can cast a ballot regardless of address. But on election day, March 3, Dallas County residents must vote in their precinct, which should be a neighborhood location. Collin County residents will be able to vote in countywide vote centers during early voting and also on Election Day. | | Local elections will be held May 2. Richardson residents will be voting on City of Richardson Charter Amendments, as well as a Bond package. Richardson Independent School District Board of Trustees Single-Member District 3 and At-Large Place 6 will be on the ballot, if either race is contested. LWV-Richardson is compiling a Voters Guide to help voters cast informed ballots for both the city and the school elections. Forums will be held if RISD has contested races for Board of Trustees positions. The League welcomes more volunteers for these Voter Service activities. For more information, email VoterService@lwvrichardson.org. |
LWVR Voter Registration Activities
| US Citizen and Immigration Services's (USCIS) Naturalization events have drastically dropped in frequency and have been eliminated in February and March. Also, as reported earlier, LWV no longer coordinates these voter registration events. However, several LWV members volunteer as individuals through Dallas County, and in two small January events, 29 new Dallas County voters registered.
The League of Women Voters of Richardson (LWVR) visited West Coast University on two consecutive January days and registered six new voters, helped 12 voters confirm their registration, sent home mail-in applications with another 10, and provided our attractive and informative new bookmarks to probably 50 voters, along with carabiners and pens!
Even though voter registration efforts at Dallas College campuses have evolved so that it is harder to hold voter registration drives on campus, our growing relationship with Dallas County Elections Office has yielded a new opportunity. On January 22, twenty-seven LWVRichardson, LWVDallas, and other Volunteer Deputy Registrars (VDRs) were on six Dallas College campuses for their welcome back week activities. (One campus had to cancel.) Excitingly, almost half of those volunteers have not worked a campus event before. A total of 122 people were registered to vote and many mail-in forms were handed out. LWVR's Cathy Murphree reports that the enthusiasm on the campuses was electrifying!
Encouraging young people to vote starts with education and awareness. LWVR has been working with schools, houses of worship, and community organizations to provide information about the voting process, explaining the impact of local and national elections, and fostering open discussions about civic engagement. Our 2026 Young Voter Registration Project grant from LWVUS has helped us in this endeavor. With lots of media attention to recent redistricting in our area and other issues, people are concerned that they have the opportunity to participate in voting. Those who have not been registered before are motivated to register. And those who have registered in the past are anxious to verify that their registration is current.
This is exciting to see. A recent voter drive at Evolution Academy Charter School had students lining up to get registered to vote. Some students even expressed interest in working at the polls. Students were given information about voting, and they had the opportunity to ask questions about what to expect when they vote for the first time.
Our voter registration volunteers have been excited to see enthusiasm about the voting process. We have scheduled several events throughout this spring and summer to register young voters as well as all potentially eligible voters throughout Richardson and RISD.
We are always looking for volunteers and VDR’s. If you are interested in signing up to become a VDR. You can easily get trained in Dallas County or Collin County. Every county has their own training procedures for becoming a Volunteer Deputy Registrar. Of course, in League of Women Voters of Richardson we have volunteer opportunities for those who are not VDRs as well. You're also invited to observe or help with events to see if this is of interest to you! For more information, email Voterreg@lwvrichardson.org. |
Make Democracy Resolutions for 2026
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To check your voter registration status;
- Go to the Texas Secretary of State's website.
- Fill in your information under 'Are You Registered? and click 'Submit'
- To be eligible to vote, your Voter Status must be ACTIVE.
If your Voter Status is not ACTIVE, you must register to vote. | | |
USPS Updates its Domestic Mail Manual
What this means to you
| The United States Postal Service updated its "Postmarks and Postal Possession" manual on November 24, 2025. Read the update here.
The update went into effect on December 24, 2025.
- The update published in the Federal Register emphasized multiple times throughout that "this new language in the DMM [Domestic Mail Manual] does not change any existing postal operations or postmarking practices, but is instead intended to improve public understanding of postmarks and their relationship to the date of mailing."
- A representative of USPS confirmed to Snopes via email that "virtually all letters or flats sent by individuals using stamps (such as cards, letters and tax returns) receive a postmark" and pointed out that "if a customer wants to ensure that a mailpiece receives a postmark and that the postmark aligns with the date of mailing, the customer may take the mailpiece to a Post Office, station, or branch and request a manual (local) postmark at the retail counter when tendering their mail piece."
- The update stated that "the date displayed on a postmark shows the date of the first automated processing operation performed on a mailpiece or, alternately, the date when a mailpiece was accepted at a retail unit."
It has always been the case that if you miss the last USPS pick-up at any mailbox, your mail will not be postmarked until at least the next day. This is still the case. The update to the DMM clarifies the USPS practices. It does not change the practices. USPS told Snopes:
- the new rule "in no way signals a change in our postmarking procedures; postmarks will continue to be applied to Single-Piece First Class Mail pieces, both letter-shaped and flat-shaped, in the same manner and to the same extent as before."
What does this mean to you?
Your completed mail-in ballot for all elections must be postmarked by a deadline. Other mail that has a postmarked deadline includes your IRS Tax Return.
As always, don't wait until the last minute to mail anything that has a deadline.
- Return your completed ballot early.
- You can get a manual postmark at the post office from a postal worker (if you visit the post office during hours they are open).
- Use Certified Mail for proof of mailing date. There is an additional cost for Certified Mail.
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Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP)
| CHIP and Children’s Medicaid have been well received by Texas families and these programs help to assure that our children have adequate preventative care in addition to coverage for more complex medical care. It is much more cost effective to provide immunizations, check-ups, and early intervention in childhood illnesses than to wait for a problem to develop into an emergency.
LWVRichardson is a long-time supporter of these programs. Members can help with an application help session:
Saturday, February 14th
9 a.m.-noon
St. Barnabas Presbyterian Church
1220 W. Belt Line Road
Richardson 75080
An expert from Ardyn Hope will be available to assist.
During our January help session, no families received assistance, probably due to cold weather.
Families who do not have coverage through their employment such as seasonal workers, employees who work part-time, grandparents who are raising their grandchildren on a fixed income, those who are currently unemployed, and teenagers who are “on their own” are some of our neighbors who might have eligible children. Please invite anyone you think may be interested to be with us on Feb. 14.
For more information, please contact Martha Dorris.
Home phone: 972-690-4908
Cell phone: 214-973-4712 (text, please)
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Would you like to help providing election information, registering voters, or influencing public policy?
You are welcome to email our Membership chair at
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