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Early voting in Harris County began last Monday. With the Houston mayor’s race, city council seats, the HERO ordinance and several high-profile state constitutional amendments in the mix, early voting has been robust.
County Clerk Stan Stanart is impressed with the early turnout, saying it is “going very strong.”
Did the weather impact the turnout?
“We fell off a little bit this weekend because of the rain, but still pretty strong, still breaking records, even with the rain,” Stanart says.
And those early voting lists are studied by pundits to try to discern a pattern.
“You can look at (how) people vote in one primary (or) another to see which party they’ve identified with to somewhat identify how people are voting, or what part of the town they live in, but it’s not a scientific process,” says Stanart. “It’s just a, you know, best guess type of process.”
You can vote early at any of 41 locations, but on Election Day you must vote in your precinct. There are 857 of those.
As in previous elections, the Harris County Clerk’s Office reminds voters that Texas requires an approved form of photo identification, like a driver’s license, a military ID or a passport or a Texas Election ID certificate or personal DPS-issued ID card.
“Of course photo ID is still required. It’s still caught up in the courts. To find your personal ballot and find your Election Day polling location, Harris Votes.com.”
Early voting ends on Friday. Mail-in ballots must arrive at the County Clerk’s office by 7 p.m. on Election Day, or Tuesday, November 3rd. The city hasn’t officially called a date, should there be a runoff, but Stanart says it’s likely to be set on December 12th.