AUSTIN, Texas — There is a new mural in town hoping to inspire people ahead of the Nov. 3 election.
The register and vote mural is located on the Dobie Twenty21 building near the University of Texas campus. The street art's creators are hoping it will become a social media star and remind visitors and UT students about the importance of voting.
The mural was painted by artist Lucas Aoki, but the design came from the 2019 high school mural contest sponsored by the Travis County Tax Office and Austin’s League of Women Voters. It was submitted by German exchange student Joel Klemm, who was attending Austin High School.
Klemm learned about the differences between Germany and the U.S. Germany automatically registers voters when they reach voting age. The country is ranked 12th in voter turnout while the U.S. ranks 26th out of the world’s 32 developed countries, according to a 2018 Pew research survey.
“We hope Travis County residents will snap a picture in front of the mural and share it with their family and friends on social media,” said Bruce Elfant, the county’s voter registrar and tax assessor-collector. “The Nov. 3 election is an opportunity to make a difference in our country, state, county and city and we need everyone to register to vote before the state’s registration cutoff on Oct. 5.”
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Travis County’s more than 4,000 volunteer deputy registrars helped register over 95% of the county’s eligible voters.
The tax office’s Voter Registration Division recently launched a voter registration tool, Text2Register, that can help the state’s 254 counties register voters. Text2Register allows any eligible Texas voter to text “register” to 48683 to receive instructions on how to complete voter registration in their county.
Gretchen Nagy, the tax office’s Voter Registration Division director, encourages those who come to see the mural to also share information on Text2Register.
“We are hoping our register and vote mural goes viral in Texas,” Nagy said. “That can happen with the help of Travis County residents sharing photos of the mural and Text2Register information on their Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, TikTok and website accounts.”
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