Harris County Early Vote Passes 581,000 Through Saturday as Neighborhood Turnout Doubles 2022 in Places

Harris County's early-vote total reached 581,580 through Saturday, according to unofficial figures from the Harris County Clerk's Office reported Sunday. The count is 546,651 in-person check-ins from Monday, October 19, through Saturday, October 24, plus 34,929 mail ballots received — about one in five of the county's 2,746,177 registered voters, before Sunday voting began.

It is the fastest midterm start in county records dating to 1998, ABC13 Houston reported, citing county data. The county logged 104,658 in-person voters on opening day alone — more than the busiest single day of the entire 2022 early-vote period. Through the first Saturday, Harris County counted 468,549 early voters in 2018 and 370,425 in 2022, and 750,349 in the full two weeks in 2022.

The sharpest gains came at centers serving predominantly Black neighborhoods. A Houston Chronicle analysis found turnout during the first four days more than doubled from the comparable 2022 period in Acres Homes, Sunnyside and the Tidwell area. The Acres Homes Multi-Service Center drew about 5,000 voters in the first four days, compared with about 2,400 in 2022, and reached 6,792 in-person check-ins through Saturday; Fallbrook Church recorded 10,653 and Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church Fellowship Hall 5,027. Location totals do not identify voters by race or reveal how anyone voted.

Early voting continued Sunday from noon to 7 p.m. and runs from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, October 30, at any Harris County vote center, with Election Day on Tuesday, November 3. The ballot is topped by the U.S. Senate race between Republican Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico, along with the governor's race, the Harris County judge race and a long list of congressional, legislative, judicial and local contests. The turnout figures show how many people have voted, not which candidates they supported.