A total of 146,144 county residents—just under 40% of registered voters—had voted as Oct. 22, halfway through this year's extended early voting window. High resident interest in early voting also prompted county commissioners to approve the opening of two additional polling sites in Spring and New Caney on Oct. 19, which have served thousands of voters in their first days of operation.
As of Day Nine of early voting, the majority of early voters—86.91%—have elected to cast their ballots in person at one of the county's 10 early voting sites. Registered voters are not limited to an assigned precinct during early voting and may cast their ballots at any polling place countywide. From Oct. 13-22, the South County Community Center in The Woodlands was by far the most heavily trafficked site in the county and had recorded 26,563 of the county's total 146,144 votes cast so far—more than 18% of the total. No other polling place had recorded more than 14,500 votes through Day Nine.
The North Montgomery Community Event Center in Willis, Magnolia Event Center in Magnolia, and Lone Star Community Center in Montgomery were the three next-most popular polling places through nine days. Together, the three north and west county locations have recorded more than 43,000 votes combined, including 14,271 ballots cast at the Willis event center, 14,359 at the Magnolia event center and 14,434 at the Montgomery community center.
The East Montgomery County Fair Association Building in New Caney, Lee G. Alworth Building in Conroe, West Montgomery County Community Development Center in Magnolia and the George and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Library in The Woodlands each saw between 10,669 and 12,839 voters Oct. 13-22.
The two additional polling places added Oct. 19, six days into the early polling period, have seen the lowest total turnout so far among county polling places. A total of 6,029 votes have been tallied at the Spring Creek Greenway Nature Center in Spring, with 2,748 votes coming from the second New Caney site at the East Montgomery County Courthouse. Despite the lower total turnout, the more than 6,000 votes cast at the Spring location in just four days is a higher count than most original county sites recorded through their first four days in operation.
Through Day Nine, 446 county residents have cast limited ballots, and 19,133—13.09%—have voted by mail.
The early voting period remains open through Oct. 30 at all 10 county polling places, which are open Mon.-Sat. 7 a.m.-7 p.m. and Sun. noon-5 p.m. More information on the election and early voting may be found on the county elections administration's website or by calling 936-539-7843.
