AUSTIN, Texas — Getting young voters to the polls is a priority for Cassie Fitzgerald, who is the director of voter registration for Austin Community College. 

“We’re so excited that we have early voting locations within a 10-minute walk of five of our campuses, because that really makes it easier for students to get out there and vote,” said Fitzgerald. 

There are two early voting sites at the University of Texas at Austin campus, but students at St. Edward’s University and Huston-Tillotson University must wait until Election Day if they plan to cast a ballot on campus.  

Huston-Tillotson student Mason Thompson works with his fraternity to help students register to vote in Travis County. 

“They’re only home for Christmas break and summer break. And they’re here for the majority of the time. And the things that happen in Austin, especially politically, the things that happen in Austin affects them more than when they go back home,” said Thompson. 

College students in Tarrant County were able to keep their early voting locations on nine of the nearly 15 different campuses in the county after a failed attempt from Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare to eliminate some locations. 

Republicans in the county say college campuses are uninviting to older voters and have limited parking. 

“As a general rule of thumb, let’s prioritize voting locations that are accessible to the widest number of people and not for the  — what appears to be trying to target a small group of heavily Democrat voters,” said Bo French, Tarrant County Republican Party chairman. 

In Brazos County, there are five early polling locations. One of them is at the Texas A&M University campus, which has the largest enrollment numbers in the state. 

“Abortion is a young person issue. Gun control, guns in schools, gun violence. This is a young person issue by and large. So, young people should really care,” said Amy Eskind, author of “Vote! A Guide for Young Adults.”

Even without some physical barriers to voting, there is an effort to help students around the mental blocks. Eskind says one example is the power of the Texas electoral vote. 

“Texas has the second highest number of electoral votes in the country. It accounts for almost 15% of the total needed to win. Texas is so important. And if young people understood that hopefully they would say, 'Oh, my vote really does matter' and come out and vote,” she said. 

The deadline to register to vote in Texas is Oct. 7. Early voting will start on Oct. 21.