More than 47,000 Harris County residents chose to cast their vote Oct. 22, setting a new record on the first day of early voting. During the last presidential election in 2008, about 39,000 people in Harris County participated in the first day of early voting.
"It is obvious that our message encouraging voters to vote early and avoid the issues of determining their Election Day voting location has been heard," said Stan Stanart, county clerk and chief election officer, in a press release.
In Cy-Fair, there are three early voting locations, but residents can vote at any location in the county during early voting.
Lone Star College–University Park, 20515 Hwy. 249, Houston: 1,349 voted Oct. 22
Cypress Top Park, 26026 Hempstead Highway, Cypress: 2,291 voted Oct. 22
Jersey Village City Hall, 16327 Lakeview Drive, Jersey Village: 1,404 voted Oct. 22
Harris County also set a record this year for the number of registered voters: more than 2 million people are now registered to vote in the county, compared to about 1.97 million in November 2008.
In 2008, more than 8 million of the state's nearly 14 million registered voters—or 59.5 percent of registered voters—cast their ballots, according to the Texas Secretary of State's Office.
In the 2012 presidential primaries in May, slightly more than 16 percent of the state's registered voters cast their ballots.
Early voting runs from 8 a.m.–4:30 p.m. Oct. 22–26; 7 a.m.–7 p.m. Oct. 27; 1 p.m.–6 p.m. Oct. 28; 7 a.m.–7 p.m. Oct. 29–Nov. 2.