Original reporting provided by Alex Samuels, reporter at The Texas Tribune. Supplemental reporting provided by Emma Freer, reporter at Community Impact Newspaper. With less than a month until the March 6 primary elections, races across the ballot are starting to heat up. This year, Texas has the earliest primaries in the country. "The primary elections here in Travis County, as in most counties in Texas, are the way that the Democratic and Republican parties select their nominees for the November general elections," Travis County Director of Elections Michael Winn said. Despite the national attention Texas has received in recent months over contentious voter ID laws, Winn reassured local voters. "In Travis County, we haven't seen any voter fraud cases," he said. If a voter does not have the necessary forms of identification at the polling place, he or she is still able to vote provisionally and given the chance to present the appropriate documents. "In Travis County, we turn no one away," Winn said. This election cycle has an unusually high number of prominent open races, with eight Texans in the U.S. House opting not to run for re-election, and more than a dozen in the Texas Legislature doing the same. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Gov. Greg Abbott, both Republicans, are up for re-election and facing primary challengers. So are Land Commissioner George P. Bush, Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller and Railroad Commissioner Christi Craddick, all of whom are Republicans. We’ve compiled an overview of some of the upcoming races, what forms of ID are acceptable at the polls and how Texas voters can learn more about the 2018 candidates and races.