Early voting is currently underway in the 2018 Runoff Elections, with Election Day set for May 22. Believe it or not, this is your chance to have the biggest impact on any race this year!

Wait, how’s that possible?

First, understand that Texas voter turnout is unfortunately pretty abysmal. Even in big election years like the 2016 Presidential Election, only 59 percent of registered voters in Texas came out to cast their ballot. That’s barely more than half! In effect, the half that voted made the decision for the half who could have voted, but chose to stay home.

When there’s no race for president, the numbers look even worse – especially when it comes to primaries. Just 10 percent of registered voters participated in the 2018 Republican Primary, while seven percent participated in the Democratic Primary. As of Tuesday, turnout for early voting in the 2018 Runoff Elections among the state’s most populous counties was just 1.7 percent of registered voters.

Imagine – that 1.7 percent will end up deciding races that will affect all 28 million people living in Texas. According to the math, each of those voters effectively spoke for 139 people. All that is to say that if you want your single vote to have an impact, now is the time to cast it!

So why is that vote important? There are plenty of reasons.

With Speaker Joe Straus (R-San Antonio) retiring, the first order of business when the next legislature convenes in January 2019 will be to elect a new speaker. Will members choose a leader who, like Straus, works to increase public education funding and defend kids and classrooms against harmful legislation proposed by the lieutenant governor? Or will they choose someone who will lower the gates to vouchers bills and declare open season on educators? The runoffs will certainly make an impact on that vote.

How much so? According to election news website txelects.com, organizations devoted to defunding and privatizing public schools have spent more than a million dollars fighting public education allies in runoff races. These groups accounted for more than a third of the $3.3 million total raised by all candidates in the Republican runoffs. Would you spend a million dollars if you didn’t think you’d get something in return?

Now you see why it’s more important than ever that you vote in the runoff elections underway now. If you voted in the 2018 Primary Elections, then you’re eligible to vote in the runoff for whatever party you voted with back in March. If you didn’t vote in the March primaries, that’s okay! You can vote in whichever party’s runoff election you like!

To find out more about who’s on the ballot in your area, click on the CANDIDATES page here at TeachTheVote.org. Now get out there and use your teacher voice!