Fort Worth
Planing to vote early in this year's primary election?
Better hurry up.
On Friday, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., is the last day Texans can vote early. After that, anyone who wants to weigh in will have to head to the polls between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Tuesday, which is Election Day.
"It's usually busier on the last day of early voting," said Karen Lawrence, Tarrant County's assistant elections administrator. "People realize it's the last chance to vote early."
Already, more than 49,000 Tarrant County voters have cast ballots — 29,200 in the Republican primary and nearly 20,000 in the Democratic primary, according to local election results through Wednesday.
At the same point through the last midterm election in 2014, by comparison, more than 34,000 ballots had been cast in person.
At stake in this year's primary elections are a number of contested races ranging from fights for the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives to the battle for the Texas Legislature and local courthouses.
Across the state, more than 415,000 Texans — 217,919 Democrats and 197,881 Republicans — had cast early ballots through Tuesday in the state's 15 largest counties, the most recent early voting totals show.
That's up from the nearly 290,000 Texans who voted early at the same point in the election four years ago.
Harris and Dallas counties appeared to have drawn the largest number of early voters so far this year, with more than 69,000 and 51,000 ballots cast, respectively.
Local early voting sites that were drawing the largest number of early voters included Keller Town Hall, Mansfield Subcourthouse, Arlington South Service Center and Fort Worth's Southwest Community Center.
To vote in Texas, a person must be a U.S. citizen, at least 18 by election day, mentally sound and not a convicted felon unless the sentence has been completed, including parole or probation. For new residents in the state, there’s no requirement stipulating how long someone must live here before registering to vote.
Election officials suggest voters read over sample ballots that are available on the Tarrant County elections website (access.tarrantcounty.com/en/elections.html) before heading to the polls.
And they remind Texans to bring their voter registration card and photo ID to the polls with them.
The seven state-approved photo IDs: Texas driver’s license, Texas election identification certificate, Texas personal identification card, Texas license to carry a concealed handgun, U.S. military ID card with photo, U.S. citizenship certificate with photo and U.S. passport.
Anyone who doesn’t have one of those IDs and can’t get one before voting may still vote after showing another form of identification and filling out a “reasonable impediment declaration.”
For information about early voting sites or questions about early voting, contact the Tarrant County Elections Center at 817-831-8683.
Anna Tinsley: 817-390-7610, @annatinsley
This story was originally published March 01, 2018 4:50 PM.