EARLY VOTING

Lion Grounds Cafe inside the Red Lion Area Senior High School teaches students business skills and serves the school community.

Twelve hours before Early Voting won the Preakness, Kentucky Derby champion Rich Strike was back on the track at Churchill Downs to begin preparations for the Belmont Stakes. Trainer Eric Reed confirmed to The Associated Press on Sunday the plan is “absolutely” still to run Rich Strike in the Belmont.

Jockey Jose Ortiz won his first Preakness.

Early Voting held off hard-charging favorite Epicenter to win the Preakness Stakes.

Get ready to make your voice heard as early voting begins Monday.

Early voting for the May 1 uniform election is now underway. Before you head out to the polls there are some things you may need to know.

HOUSTON – Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris encouraged voters to get to the poll during a rally at the University of Houston on Friday night. Vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris encouraged voters to get to the poll during a rally at the University of Houston on Friday night. (KPRC)Harris said there’s is a lot at stake this election and people need to go vote. Many Houstonians were pumped up to see Harris a few days before Election Day. “It means a lot for somebody like Kamala to come down here right before the election.

SUGAR LAND, Texas – Fort Bend County continues to break records for early voting turnout. In 2016, more than 260,000 registered voters in Fort Bend County cast their ballot in the election. Early voting for this election isn’t even over and already 305,987 or 62.7% of registered voters have already cast their ballot. They’re worried about financial security. They’re worried about putting food on their family’s table.

The number of voters who cast ballots in the Texas early voting period this year has now surpassed the total number of people who voted in all of 2016. Through Thursday, 9,009,850 have voted so far this year, with one day of early voting left. That amounts to 53% of registered voters. Texas has added 1.8 million registered voters since the 2016 election, and overall percentage turnout is still below 2016′s turnout of 59.4%. Since the 2008 election, more Texans have voted early than on Election Day.

HOUSTON – Friday is the last day of early voting in Harris County. As of midnight, the county clerk tweeted that 1.3 million people in Harris County had cast their ballots early. Eight locations in Harris County will be open 24 hours, including at the Victory Worship Center in North Harris County, where the county clerk shared a video of people waiting in line at midnight. #HarrisVotes pic.twitter.com/xuGnZet1ou — Harris County Clerk (@HarrisVotes) October 30, 2020NRG Arena is also a 24-hour polling location, where there was a drive-in concert Thursday night. All polling locations in Harris County were open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday.

HOUSTON – Early voting ends Friday. The Harris County Clerk’s Office provided more voter access than ever before, tripling the number of early voting centers from just over 40 in 2016 to 122 this November. All 122 early voting locations will be open until 7 p.m. Friday. “My number one priority is to keep voters and election workers safe this November,” said Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins. Cypress, TX 77429Voting Methods122 Early Voting CentersDrive-thru voting at 10 locations24-hour voting at eight locations on Thursday, Oct. 29Extended hours to 10 pm Tuesday, Oct. 27 - Thursday, Oct. 29Remaining Key Dates

HOUSTON – The Texas Secretary of State’s office is asking the Harris County Clerk to clarify what they call “apparent discrepancies” between early voting totals submitted to the Secretary of State’s office and the numbers posted to the county’s early voting webpage. Hart then asked which totals were “most accurate,” stating that incorrect vote totals would need to be removed and resubmitted. The daily record of early voting from the Harris County Clerk’s Office shows 1,149,047 total early voters on Monday. But on the Texas Secretary of State’s website, that number, provided by Harris County, is increased by more than 2,300, showing 1,151,399 total voters on Monday. Any discrepancies between the Secretary of State’s website, and the official results put out by the Harris County Clerk, will be rectified once the official results come out.”

“They are afraid of the mail system," said Harris County Precinct 868 Election Judge Shereta Glen. 1 state in the nation for early voting so far, we don’t release party affiliation data. One professor said there’s an even better indicator of how this could impact early voting so far. So that’s using recent history as a guide, but there are other indicators when looking at early voting so far. Early voting locations could give cluesYou can get an idea about who is turning out for early voting by looking at the geography of where people are voting.

As part of our Ask 2 series, the newsroom will answer your questions about all things Houston. Question: When does Harris County begin counting early-voting ballots? Answer: Votes cast during early voting are counted starting on Election Day after the polls close, a spokesperson for Harris County Clerk’s Office said. For Harris County, mail-in ballots received during Texas' early-voting period will undergo signature verification and will also be counted on Election Day. Send it our way, and we will try to hunt down an answer.

U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event at Texas Southern University on March 23, 2019 in Houston. Credit: Pu Ying Huang for The Texas TribuneKamala Harris, Joe Biden’s running mate and the California U.S. senator, will be visiting Texas on Friday, according to an email Biden’s campaign sent to Democratic lawmakers in Texas. Harris will be the highest-profile representative of the Biden campaign to visit Texas in person during the general election. “Allow me to provide as a courtesy, the below in person travel notification for Sen. Kamala Harris which will be publicly released momentarily,” the email reads. Kamala Harris will be personally traveling to Texas on Friday - October 30.

HOUSTON – The Harris County Clerk’s Office partnered up with the Houston Rockets and MTV for the inaugural Vote Early Day at the Toyota Center on Saturday. Over 800,000 Harris County voters have gone to the polls. We still have a week left of early voting," Turner said. The last day for early voting in Texas is Friday, October 30. Election Day is November 3.

HOUSTON – The 2020 election is breaking records in early voting in Harris County. Nearly 1 million people have voted in Harris County as of Friday at 3 p.m., according to the Harris County Clerk. pic.twitter.com/s66488wk44 — Harris County Clerk (@HarrisVotes) October 23, 2020By Friday, the number of early voters in Harris County surpassed the total number of early voters in 2016, according to the county clerk office. The rumors are true: Harris County has now surpassed 2016 Early Voting numbers. #HarrisVotes pic.twitter.com/m3ZwadyASP — Harris County Clerk (@HarrisVotes) October 23, 2020By the numbers: voter turnout in Harris CountyOn the first day of early voting, Harris County shattered the record with about 128,000 people voting on October 13.

So if you’re feeling a little left in the dark, as in, you still don’t realize all your early voting options, we’re here to fill you in. When it comes to early, in-person voting ...Again, it’s up to the state when it comes to specifics, timelines and more. In federal elections in the U.S., this still isn’t permitted -- not on Election Day and not in early voting. Author’s note: A lot of the early voting places where I live have very specific hours. Let us know what questions you have about early voting, in the comments below.

The final debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden may have been civil in tone but the two sides delivered deeply different messages. Supporters of both Trump and Biden flocked to social media to provide commentary on the moments when their guy landed good punches. #txlege — Matt Schaefer (@RepMattSchaefer) October 23, 2020“The spikes in Florida & Texas” are gone”...that’s how the President opened up the debate tonight. These states are facing increasing Covid cases today & will face some of the worst scenarios this winter after President Trump pressured these Governors to lie. — Robert Reich (@RBReich) October 23, 2020Joe Biden wrote the 1994 crime bill,which locked up black fathers & separated them from their children.

HOUSTON – Harris County officials have approved two new early voting locations in Spring Monday. 3 Commissioner James Noack, the county elections department and Pct. 4 Commissioner James Metts, the Commissioner Court unanimously approved the locations during a special session. The early voting locations will be located at the Spring Creek Greenway Nature Center, 1300 Riley Fuzzel Road, and the East Montgomery County Courthouse, 21130 Highway 59 South. Officials said both locations will open at 9 a.m. during early voting.

HOUSTON – The University of Houston is taking a deep dive into Harris County’s record-setting early voting turnout numbers that made history and headlines around the nation. The Center for Mexican American Studies and the UH Election Lab tracked data from the first five days of early voting in Harris County. “We use data from the County Clerk’s office to look to see where people are voting number one, where the hotspots are, but also number two, look at trends with respect to partisanship and ethnicity and race, so we can get a really good picture of where Houstonians and where Harris County residents were voting,” said political science professor Brandon Rottinghaus who developed the project with Jeronimo Cortina. University of Houston political science professor Brandon Rottinghaus is part of a team that tracked the first five days of early voting in Harris County. “We definitely see enthusiasm," Rottinghaus said.

According to the state Democratic Party, over 1 million Texans cast ballots on the first day of early voting. In 2016, by comparison, 340,006 Texans cast in-person ballots in those 10 counties on the first day of early voting and 157,277 had cast ballots by mail. That year, there was about one week less of early voting. “Across our state, Texas Democrats are fired up, voting, and ready to win,” said Gilberto Hinojosa, the party’s chair. Early voting runs through Oct. 30.

HOUSTON – Voters in Harris County set another early-voting record Wednesday. This time for turnout on the second day of early voting. According to a tweet from the Harris County Clerk’s Office, there had been 100,000 ballots cast by about 5:20 p.m.That shattered the previous day-two-early-voting record of 73,542 set in 2016. This marks the second consecutive day of record-setting voting in Harris County. The county also broke 2016′s turnout record for the first day of early voting on Tuesday with more than 128,000 people voting.

CONROE, Texas – Montgomery County commissioners will consider whether two more early-voting locations are needed during a meeting Monday. According to an agenda for the meeting, commissioners will consider a resolution that would add an early-voting location in New Caney and another in Spring. That address corresponds with the location of the East Montgomery County Courthouse Annex. The Spring location would be at 1300 Riley Fuzzel Road. According to the website for Montgomery County Elections, the county currently has nine early voting locations.

HOUSTON – Early voting in Texas ends on Oct. 30. In Harris County, voters set a new turnout record for the first day of early voting. The record-setting trend continued for the second day. Here’s a closer look at the numbers in Harris County, according to data from the Harris County Clerk’s Office Election Division.

HOUSTON – Voters in Harris County shattered records for turnout Tuesday on the first day of early voting. The record for highest day turnout during early voting was broken after 4 p.m. when the number passed the 100,000 mark. “We’ve already shattered the ‘opening day’ record for Early Voting turnout,” Chris Hollins, Harris County Clerk, wrote in a tweet. We’ve already shattered the “opening day” record for Early Voting turnout (68k) and there are still more than FIVE HOURS of voting left. Turner also announced the Mayor’s Early Vote College Challenge to inspire the University of Houston, Texas Southern University and Rice University students to vote early.

MISSOURI CITY, Texas – Poll hours have been extended all this week in Fort Bend County after a technical issue caused widespread problems Tuesday for voters who tried to cast their ballots on the first day of early voting. “The elections board they could’ve had more people out to help them technically so they could resolve problems quickly,” Green said. Fort Bend County Judge K.P. George said he was also disappointed when he noticed the problems while voting at the Smart Financial Centre on Wednesday morning. George said in a tweet that starting Wednesday through Saturday, poll closing times have been extended to 7 p.m. at all sites “to ensure safe, fair, and accessible elections in Fort Bend County.” The extension begins Wednesday and runs for the remainder of the week.

MONTGOMERY, Texas – Early voting got underway Tuesday, Oct. 13 and many polling locations saw long lines. Mary Lindsay said she was pleased but surprised to see the extensive line growing outside of the South County Community Center in Montgomery, County. “I expected a line but maybe not quite this long,” said Lindsay. This location is one of eight early voting locations in Montgomery County. Mary said despite the long wait ahead of her she was thrilled to see the large turnout.

HOUSTON – As the first day of early voting begins Tuesday, Mayor Sylvester Turner is encouraging young people to participate in the 2020 election. Turner is joining students at two college campus events to announce the Mayor’s Early Vote College Challenge to inspire the University of Houston, Texas Southern University and Rice University students to vote early. “Voting matters, who you vote for matters, and this election matters," Mayor Turner told students at a rally at the University of Houston. Early voting for the Nov. 3 general election begins Oct. 13 and ends Oct. 30. Click here to find early voting locations and hours in Harris County.

HOUSTON – The Houston Food Bank is the newest, non-traditional voting location as the Harris County Clerk’s Office works to expand voting accessibility in what could be the highest turnout election in history. The food bank is partnering with the clerk’s office to become one of the 122 early voting centers in Harris County this year. In 2016, there were only 40 early voting centers. “We actually reached out to them and said we were interested in being a polling location, especially for this historic location," said Melanie Pang, director of advocacy at the Houston Food Bank. "We want to make sure that everybody has access to voting as much as possible.”There will be two ways to vote at the HFB location on Portwall Street -- in person and drive-thru.

A poll by the University of Texas and the Texas Tribune published last week found that President Donald Trump holds a five-point lead over former Vice President Joe Biden. Jill Biden, former second lady and wife of the former vice president, stumped in El Paso, Dallas and Houston on Tuesday -- the first day of early voting in Texas. At the drive-in rally in Houston, supporters used their horns to cheer on Jill Biden as she talked about her husband’s vision for America and the importance of their votes. “For the first time in a long time, winning Texas is possible,” Jill Biden said. Early voting runs until Oct. 30.

Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Judge Amy Coney Barrett begin MondaySupreme Court confirmation hearings for Judge Amy Coney Barrett are set to begin Monday. The confirmation hearings for Barrett, who would replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, are scheduled to last for four days. Early voting for the Nov. 3 election begins on Oct. 13. and will continue through Oct. 30. LocationsRegistered voters in Harris County can vote early at any of the county’s polling locations. Visit Harris County Clerk’s interactive map or download Harris County’s full early voting location list to find a voting center near you.

Early voting in Texas can begin Oct. 13, following the timeline the governor laid out months ago, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Wednesday, rejecting a request from several top Texas Republicans to limit the timeframe for voters to cast their ballots. Greg Abbott ordered that early voting for the general election in Texas begin nearly a week earlier than usual, a response to the coronavirus pandemic. Abbott added six days to the early voting period through an executive order, an exercise of the emergency powers he has leaned into during the virus crisis. Abbott’s order to extend the early voting period has been the main way the state adjusted voting procedures during the pandemic. Abbott had also doubled the early voting period for lower-turnout primary runoff elections held in July.