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.

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.

Data from the county clerk's office shows that 1,475 people cast ballots at the Tomball area location—the Tomball Public Works building—on the first day of voting. In Montgomery County, 15,021 voted on Oct. 22, with 1,336 votes coming from the Magnolia area.

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. from 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.