HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — Early voting for the March primary started Monday.
The governor's race is one of several in which voters will decide which candidates will move on to November's general election.
RELATED: Abbott vs. O'Rourke: Race for Texas governor heats up in Houston as candidates trade attacks
In Harris County, registered voters can vote at any of the 90 polling locations, which is about double the amount available during the last midterm primary in 2018. In this voting cycle, there are about 2.5 million registered voters in the county.
RELATED: The Texas primary is March 1. Here's what you need to know about early voting and voting day
As of 5 p.m. Monday, nearly 9,000 people had voted in person across Harris County, according to election officials. The three busiest sites were Metropolitan Multi-Service Center, Kingwood Community Center and Trini Mendenhall Community Center.
Voters said the lines were moving fast at a few of the historically busy polling sites.
“I’d say 15 or 20 minutes,” Corby Robertson Jr. said.
“It’s very easy. I don’t think there was any part of the process that I was confused on,” Tamira Samuel said.
The inside of polling locations looks a little different this year than in 2018. There are precautions in place due to the pandemic and new voting machines that use a touchscreen ballot but also provide a paper backup ballot.
The ballots are long, so once you get to the front of the line, it takes a while to complete.
“One hundred things on the ballot, so that takes a long time, but the admin part was, like, right away. No line. Look at your ID, you’re in,” Chris Seaver said.
The backup ballot is two pages, so you're asked not to forget to scan both before leaving.
Voters who are unable to make it inside have the option of curbside voting.
This year, the county's election website introduced a wait time feature. You're able to click on any polling location and see the estimated wait time and the number of people in line. Click here to check it out.