Harris County early voting: More than 54,000 ballots casted in first 4 days
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas - Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth announced that over 54,400 in-person ballots have been cast by voters in the first four days of Early Voting for the November 7 Joint General & Special Elections.
This is a significant increase in early voting participation compared to a similar election in 2015 when only 36,300 voters chose to cast their ballots in person during the same period.
"We are looking at an increase of about 50%. We have been working hard to ensure Voting Centers are up and running on time, and voters are getting in and out easily," said Clerk Hudspeth. "Voters are showing interest in this election and are eager to make their choices ahead of November 7."
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The November 7 ballot has 42 political entities, with each voter seeing contests specific to their registered address so some people's ballot may see 15 contests while others see about 35. Only voters residing within the legal boundaries of the City of Houston are eligible to participate in the Houston Mayoral, Controller, and City Council races.
Clerk Hudspeth emphasized the manpower required to manage the election, with more than 700 election workers stationed at the 68 Voting Centers across Harris County during the early voting period.
Harris County's election audit
The Texas Secretary of State released the audit of the Harris County's 2022 election. It confirmed multiple meltdowns including failure to provide polling places with enough ballots, failure to properly train election workers, and deep discrepancies in the number of registered voters reported to the state.
"More than 700 election workers are stationed at the 68 Voting Centers across Harris County during the early voting period, and more than 6,000 will be working at the 701 Voting Centers on Election Day, November 7," added Clerk Hudspeth. "It takes a lot of people to run an election, and I am grateful for each and every one of them."
Early Voting is set to continue through Friday, Nov. 3. Voters are encouraged to review and print sample ballots. To view all the contests and candidates on their sample ballot, voters can enter their name, address, or Voter Unique Identifier (VUID) from their voter registration certificate.
When voting in person, the following forms of photo ID are acceptable:
- Texas Driver's License issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS)
- Texas Election Identification Certificate issued by DPS
- Texas Personal Identification Card issued by DPS
- Texas Handgun License issued by DPS
- United States Military Identification Card containing the person's photograph
- United States Citizenship Certificate containing the person's photograph
- United States Passport (book or card)
If you don't have these forms, voters can complete a Reasonable Impediment Declaration (RID) at a Vote Center and present another form of ID, such as a utility bill, bank statement, government check, or voter registration certificate.