Harris County Early Voting Begins Monday, October 19 and Ends October 30

Early voting: Twelve days of polling places open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, Sunday the 25th from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m., and October 23 is the deadline to request a mail ballot.

Early voting in Harris County opens this Monday, October 19, and runs through Friday, October 30. All early voting centers in the county are open to any registered voter in Harris County, regardless of their residential address. On Tuesday, November 3, Election Day, the centers reopen from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The county does not assign a center by neighborhood. During early voting and on Election Day, any registered Harris County voter may use the center closest to them.

The centers for early voting open 12 hours from Monday to Saturday and seven hours on Sunday the 25th

Locations are not final and are confirmed as the calendar progresses, so a center may change location or be added to the list.

Related: Harris County processes 75,000 backlogged registrations

The center finder returns the polling places closest to each address

The Harris County voting center finder returns the polling places closest to a given address and filters by voting day. The wait-time board updates during the election day with the estimated line at each center.

The personalized sample ballot shows the races for each address

Harris County’s sample ballot is generated with the voter’s name or address and shows the exact contests that apply to them. The printed sample ballot and handwritten notes are allowed in the ballot-marking area; phones, tablets, and laptops are prohibited within 100 feet of the entrance. The county also publishes the full list of early voting centers and the general election calendar.

The mail ballot request deadline is October 23

The mail ballot request must be received by the county elections office no later than October 23. Mail ballots are available to those who are 65 years of age or older on Election Day, are ill or disabled, will be absent from the county during the entire early voting period and on Election Day, are expecting to give birth within three weeks before or after the election, or are incarcerated in jail but have not lost the right to vote.

The County Clerk’s Office answers questions about the mail ballot at 713-755-3150 and accepts faxed requests at 713-755-4983.

Texas driver’s license and passport serve as identification at the ballot

Texas requires a photo ID. Accepted forms of identification include a Texas driver’s license, a state personal identification card, the Electoral Identification Certificate issued by the Department of Public Safety, a license to carry a handgun, a military ID with photo, a photo citizenship certificate, and a U.S. passport. Library credentials are not acceptable.

A ID that has expired up to four years ago is valid for voters aged 18 to 69; for those 70 and older there is no expiration limit.

The Reasonable Impediment Declaration covers anyone who does not have any of those documents: it is signed at the ballot and is accompanied by the voter registration certificate, a certified birth certificate, a utility bill, a bank statement, a government-issued check, or a paycheck with their name.

The Electoral Identification Certificate is issued at no cost at Texas Department of Public Safety offices.

Texas eliminated straight-ticket voting

Each voter must select their preferred contest issue by issue: the row with each candidate’s party affiliation appears beneath their name. Ballots are available in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Chinese. Each center offers drive-through voting with a buzzer in the parking lot, wider accessibility booths for wheelchairs, adjustable font size and contrast, and remote interpreters in sign language and other languages.

The provisional ballot and signature cure have six days to respond

Those voting provisionally for lack of identification, or who have a signature or identification number issue on their mail ballot, have six days after Election Day to correct it. The correction is filed with the county election office at 15600 Morales Road.

The ballot includes the U.S. Senate, the six state executive offices, and the 150 state House seats

Texas will again elect its open seat in the United States Senate on Tuesday, November 3, along with the state’s six executive offices, the 150 seats in the State House, and a portion of the judiciary. The 38 seats of Texas in the United States House of Representatives are also on the ballot; the redrawn federal map in 2025 left open the races for Districts 8, 10, 19, 22, 33, and 37 due to realignments and changes in who holds them.

The seat held by John Cornyn in the U.S. Senate since 2003 will change hands in at least one of the two races. Texas Attorney General nominee Mayes Middleton, a state senator, won the Republican runoff in May over Congressman Chip Roy, and faces Democrat James Talarico, a state representative who won the Democratic nomination in the March round with 52.4% of the votes. The March primaries and May runoffs defined the rest of the races on the ticket.

Greg Abbott is running for a fourth four-year term as governor, with state representative Gina Hinojosa as the Democratic challenger. Texas has not elected a Democratic governor since 1995. Dan Patrick seeks his fourth term as lieutenant governor.

The Attorney General’s office remains open because Paxton is running for the Senate: Mayes Middleton, a state senator, won the May Republican runoff over Congressman Chip Roy.

Don Huffines was named comptroller by Abbott in July 2026 to fill the remaining term after the interim comptroller Kelly Hancock resigned following his loss in the Republican primary. The ticket also includes third-party candidates, including Tom Oxford for Attorney General and Arthur DiBianca for the Railroad Commission.

Four seats on the Texas Supreme Court and the 150 state House seats are up for grabs

The state judicial slate includes four of the nine seats on the Texas Supreme Court — held by Chief Justice Jimmy Blacklock, James Sullivan, Jeffrey S. Boyd, and Brett Busby — and three on the Criminal Appeals Court, with Bert Richardson, Kevin Yeary and David Newell. The 15th Court of Appeals, created in 2024, is renewing its president Scott Brister and judges Scott Field and April Farris. The State Board of Education has eight of its 15 districts up for election.

The Texas Senate renews 16 of its 31 seats and the State House renews all 150 seats, where the Republican Party holds a 88-to-62 majority. The November 3 election coincides with two special elections for state legislative seats outside the Houston area, in Senate District 22 and House District 93.

Harris County elects County Judge, Clerk, and two Commissioners

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo is not seeking re-election, so the top county government post in the third-most-populous county in the country is open.

Letitia Plummer won the May Democratic runoff over former Mayor Annise Parker; Orlando Sanchez won the Republican nomination. Teneshia Hudspeth, the current county clerk, is seeking re-election. Pct. 4 faces Commissioner Lesley Briones against former Commissioner Steve Radack, who held that seat for three decades before Briones won it in 2022.

The ballot changes by school district and precinct

The boundaries of federal, state, school, and municipal districts do not perfectly align across Harris County. Within the same county, two addresses located only a few blocks apart can receive different races for the U.S. House, the Texas Legislature, and the State Board of Education.

In November’s election, the County Clerk’s office also runs races for the City of Houston, the City of Baytown, the City of League City, the Harris Central Appraisal District, The Woodlands Township, and ten school districts: Channelview, Crosby, Cypress-Fairbanks, Huffman, Klein, La Porte, New Caney, Sheldon, Spring, and Tomball. Emergency service districts, municipal utility districts, and other smaller local entities also appear.

Early voting: the Elections Office answers questions at (713) 755-6965

The Harris County Clerk’s Office answers election questions at (713) 755-6965. The 2026 Texas Secretary of State General Ballot Certification lists county-certified candidates and offices, along with the Election Proclamation and deadlines. Robert S. Howden, appointed by Abbott in July 2026 as the 116th Secretary of State, leads the state’s electoral authority, whose Elections Division can be reached at 512-463-5650. Texas operates 254 county elections concurrently, each administered by its own county, and VoteTexas.gov in Spanish gathers the requirements for registration, identification, and voting by mail.

Candidates, lawsuits, and vacancies can modify contests throughout the year, so the data for each race correspond to the most recent certification from the Secretary of State.

Early voting ends Friday, October 30, and Election Day is Tuesday, November 3.

🗣️ Stay informed about what’s happening in your community during early voting. Learn more.