{"id":53424,"date":"2026-10-06T12:02:29","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T17:02:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/?p=53424"},"modified":"2026-10-06T12:02:31","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T17:02:31","slug":"acc-students-get-hands-on-voting-experience-at-paws-to-the-polls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/10\/06\/acc-students-get-hands-on-voting-experience-at-paws-to-the-polls\/","title":{"rendered":"ACC Students Get Hands-On Voting Experience at Paws to the Polls"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/81\/2026\/10\/Image_20261005_093044_182-1-1024x768.jpeg\" alt=\"The image shows an indoor voting educational demonstration or voter outreach event set up inside a facility.   Voting Station Setup: A table covered in a blue cloth displays voting machines, paper materials, and ballot box equipment, with staff members demonstrating the voting process to attendees.  \" class=\"wp-image-53425\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/81\/2026\/10\/Image_20261005_093044_182-1-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/81\/2026\/10\/Image_20261005_093044_182-1-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/81\/2026\/10\/Image_20261005_093044_182-1-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/81\/2026\/10\/Image_20261005_093044_182-1-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/81\/2026\/10\/Image_20261005_093044_182-1-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/81\/2026\/10\/Image_20261005_093044_182-1-150x113.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/81\/2026\/10\/Image_20261005_093044_182-1-320x240.jpeg 320w, https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/81\/2026\/10\/Image_20261005_093044_182-1-1320x990.jpeg 1320w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With early voting for the November 2026 election approaching, more than 100 ACC students got a hands-on introduction to the voting process at the Highland Campus.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ACC Votes partnered with the League of Women Voters of Austin and the Travis County Elections Department on Tuesday, September 22, to bring Paws to the Polls to campus. The event gave students a chance to take part in a mock election to practice using real Travis County voting machines.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More than 100 students participated to choose Austin\u2019s first-ever Pet Mayor \u2014 Gus the Cat or Franklin the Dog. Results are pending to see which furry friend will take the honors.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\" style=\"grid-template-columns:30% auto\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/81\/2026\/10\/Image_20261005_093044_382-1-1-768x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-53427 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/81\/2026\/10\/Image_20261005_093044_382-1-1-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/81\/2026\/10\/Image_20261005_093044_382-1-1-225x300.jpeg 225w, https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/81\/2026\/10\/Image_20261005_093044_382-1-1-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w, https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/81\/2026\/10\/Image_20261005_093044_382-1-1-1536x2048.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/81\/2026\/10\/Image_20261005_093044_382-1-1-113x150.jpeg 113w, https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/81\/2026\/10\/Image_20261005_093044_382-1-1-1320x1760.jpeg 1320w, https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/81\/2026\/10\/Image_20261005_093044_382-1-1-scaled.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Paws to the Polls is a countywide voter-engagement initiative designed to welcome new voters, provide hands-on experience with voting equipment, and connect residents with trusted election resources.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The event is part of ACC Votes, the College\u2019s nonpartisan civic engagement initiative, which provides students with voter registration information, voter education, and opportunities to participate in their communities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Early voting for the Tuesday, November 3, election begins Monday, October 19, and runs through Friday, October 30.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/offices.austincc.edu\/community-and-government-affairs\/government-relations\/acc-votes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Learn more about ACC Votes and voter registration resources at ACC.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With early voting for the November 2026 election approaching, more than 100 ACC students got a hands-on introduction to the voting process at the Highland Campus. ACC Votes partnered with the League of Women Voters &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/10\/06\/acc-students-get-hands-on-voting-experience-at-paws-to-the-polls\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3930,"featured_media":53425,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,15,19],"tags":[487,4456,599],"class_list":["post-53424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-announcements","category-facstaff-news","category-students-and-alumni","tag-acc-votes","tag-league-of-women-voters-of-austin","tag-voting"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3930"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53424"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53424\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53428,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53424\/revisions\/53428"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}