Harris County Shatters Its Midterm Early-Voting Record: 1,081,010 Ballots Before Election Day
More than 1.03 million Harris County voters cast ballots in person during early voting — the most at this point in any midterm in county records — and 39.4 percent of the county's registered voters have already voted with Election Day still to come on Tuesday, November 3.
Harris County did not just turn out for this midterm — it rewrote the county record book. Through the twelfth and final day of early voting on Friday, October 30, 1,036,349 people voted in person in Harris County, the most at this point in any midterm election in county records going back to 1998, according to the Harris County Elections Department's final early-vote tally.
Add the mail ballots — 44,661 returned of 61,743 sent — and 1,081,010 Harris County voters had already cast a ballot before Election Day, 39.4 percent of the county's 2,746,177 registered voters. The previous midterm high at this point was 766,613 in-person voters in 2018, and the county's pace ran well ahead of the 29.2 percent early share recorded at the same point in 2022.
The final day set its own record: 126,397 in-person voters on Friday alone, the biggest twelfth day of early voting in any county midterm. The pace was set from the start — the first day, Monday, October 19, drew more than 104,600 in-person voters, itself a first-day midterm record.
Texas as a whole did the same. Nearly 7.5 million Texans cast ballots during the state's twelve-day early voting period, a record for a midterm election, according to state figures reported Saturday — just over 39 percent of the state's registered voters, with Harris County leading every county in the state.
What is left is Election Day itself. Polls are open Tuesday, November 3, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and any registered Harris County voter may cast a ballot at any of the county's 600-plus vote centers. The ballot is topped locally by the race for Harris County Judge, where Democrat Letitia Plummer and Republican Orlando Sanchez are running to succeed Lina Hidalgo, who is not seeking re-election.
