Voters are currently fixated on the presidential race, but alongside this federal election are a host of local decisions that are easily overlooked, yet equally important. This year, for instance, Fort Bend County is electing a sheriff, county attorney, tax assessor-collector, county commissioner, appraisal district, constables, and judicial offices. 

“Local elections are so vital to the system of federalism, people forget about it.” AP US Government teacher Rebecca Vandagriff said. “When we’re talking about how the state operates, especially here in Texas, it has to maneuver and work with city government and county government and sheriff’s offices, which are elected positions.”
One of the main issues with local elections is that they can seem invisible in a news system dominated by national headlines.

“I suppose the local elections affect my life more,” junior William Kroll said, “but I guess I’ll see, more directly, the administrations of the more federal or statewide elected officials because that will be more publicized, and I notice it more. But, I suppose if I paid attention to more of the local stuff and I noticed ‘oh they’re pushing for a park to be built here’, I’d notice stuff like that. ”

While Houston hit a record number of early voters this year, Texas still has one of the lowest voter registration rates in the country.

Vandagriff points out that with so many elections, it can be difficult for people to find the time to research everyone on the ballot, leading to a lack of voters or uninformed voting. While some argue for the restructuring of the voting system, this kind of big-picture restructuring of our government is unlikely to happen anytime soon. Her advice for voters is to simply vote in as many elections as possible. 

“The system we have is a system we have, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to change anytime soon.” Vandagriff said. “Yes, we should have voting changes, and we should have fewer elections, not limiting suffrage, but fewer times that we have to get out and go vote, but that’s not what we have right now. So my advice is: vote in every election you can vote in. From school board to student council to president to house representative.”

“Know your candidates, and just try to see beyond the party line.” Vandagriff said. “Especially on the local level, parties don’t [matter] this much. Ultimately, they get in there and they realize, it’s not about the party, it really has to be more about the constituents on a local level. Read their policy, understand that they’re not going to be able to do everything that they want to do… I always say, you know, the election or the campaign doesn’t necessarily end with the election.”

 While generally voters understand the role of the sheriff or judicial offices, some of the other offices on the ballot are lesser known: 

• The county attorney acts as the commissioners court’s assistant. They assure the court of legality in lawmaking and in contracts, and they act as a checkpoint for legal questions, they screen open records requests, and they review claims made against the county. 
• The tax assessor-collector must assess property and collect ad valorem taxes for their county. They also contract with other entities to collect their jurisdictions’ taxes. 
• County commissioners set the budget for all county departments with the county judge, and the two of them adopt a tax rate. The appraisal district appraises property for the purposes of property taxes for each taxing unit. 
• Finally, constables are in charge of performing functions defined by state and the local government.