HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — Get your photo ID ready, early voting for Texas’ March 1 Primary Election starts on Monday, February 14.
In Harris County, the most populated county in Texas, election workers are anticipating a big turnout. The Harris County Elections Administrator reports 2.4 million people are currently registered to vote in the county. It’s the biggest increase in registered voters for a mid-term election year within the last 20 years.
With an increase in registered voters, some may be concerned about long lines at certain polling locations. In March 2020, the line to vote at Texas Southern University was so long and went so late into the night, cellphone video captured people cheering as more voting machines were rolled into the polling place in Houston’s Third Ward.
In the months that followed, Isabel Longoria became Harris County’s first-ever Elections Administrator.
“We saw on the news, right,” said Longoria. “You’ve got longer lines at TSU. You’ve got shorter lines at other locations. The frustration in a mix-match of machines. The previous administration said, we’re only going to give an equal number of machines to every location no matter what. We went a little science-y this time. We said, who votes in person? What is voting like in the area?”
In Houston’s Third Ward, more people just registered to vote for the mid-term primary election. “It’s empowering. It’s exciting,” and Lynn Mumford helped to make the process easier. She’s the connection between Harris County’s elections office and the Black community.
“People want to be included. They want to have a seat at the table, but they also want to have a voice that’s heard,” said Mumford.
Harris County heard complaints and concerns from registered voters that some polling locations couldn’t meet the voter turnout. So this year, Harris County is adding more early voting locations for the March 1 primary.
“Adding Emancipation Park, for example, so that you can help with potentially some more traffic of voters going over to TSU, to avoid those long lines again,” said Longoria.
Emancipation Park, a property purchased by former slaves, served as the only park in the City of Houston for African-Americans until 1940. The Park will now be an early voting site for anyone in Harris County.
“The legacy has to be honored,” said Mumford. “It’s never lost on Black Houston that voting rights are not definite and not guaranteed and that it’s our responsibility to go out and vote.”
Mumford is one of 20 county workers dedicated to getting more eligible voters registered. The new outreach team speaks multiple languages and goes out into the community daily. “254 counties in Texas and we’re one of the few, if not the only, that has a dedicated team like this.”
More registered voters for this mid-term election year. More early voting locations up from 45 spots up to 90. New voting machines and starting Monday, the county’s election website will offer a real-time look at polling location wait times so lines don’t get as long as they did in 2020.
“For whatever reason, if a location gets very popular on Election Day,” said Longoria, “we can see in real-time the number of voters that are checking in and deploy more election machines if needed to help alleviate those lines.”