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How to cast your mail-in ballot on Election Day

On Election Day from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m., a tent will be set up outside 1001 Preston Street to collect finished mail-in ballots.

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — If you still have your mail-in ballot, you still have time to get it in but you're likely too late to mail it in.

You can now either drop it off in person or surrender it and vote normally.

On Election Day from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m., a tent will be set up outside 1001 Preston Street to collect finished mail-in ballots. It's important to know this will be the only place to drop off those completed mail-in ballots on Election Day. But if you can't make it here, don't worry, you can still vote in person at a polling place.

Harris County voters have already turned out in big numbers. Brandon Zaratti is one of the hundreds of thousands of in-person voters. And, so far, another 57,000 mail-in ballots are already in, too.

"I didn't have a wait time at all," Zaratti said. "I went right here to the law library. It took less than a minute."

Zaratti enjoys the process of voting in person, but he knows that's not an option for everyone. And Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth said that come Election Tuesday, some mail-in ballot voters might have to change their plans. It's simply too late for a mailed ballot to make it in time.

"I'm the county clerk of elections. I am not the county clerk of the USPS. So, my suggestion is that at this point, if you have that ballot in your possession that you take it to the Election Day drop-off location -- that is 1001 Preston," she said.

In previous years, voters had a wider range of options for dropping off completed ballots. Not this time. Zaratti was surprised to learn that this is the only drop-off location for all of Harris County.

"Voting should be the easiest thing. It should be lawful, and it should be a right for everyone. Not just the people who have to drive 30 to 45 minutes out in some parts of Harris County all the way down to the tax office," he said.

Hudspeth said people with the mail ballots still in hand with an acceptable ID can also surrender the ballot at any of the 700 Election Day polling locations and cast a regular vote. And if you don't have your mail-in ballot to surrender, you can still vote using a provisional ballot.

"You should vote if you're registered," Zaratti said.

The clerk's office said you can walk up to the tent that will be set up and there will be a drive-up option as well. But all mail-in ballots must be submitted by 7 p.m. on Election Day.

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