HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — With just over a month to go before the start of early voting in Texas, the state’s largest county continued preparations to host its first-ever joint primary.
On Wednesday afternoon, Harris County elections officials conducted logic and accuracy tests on voting machines, as required by state law, at the county’s Election Technology Center.
Representatives chosen by both the Republican and Democratic parties watched the entire process.
Unlike during the general election, the parties choose the polling sites and staff them during primaries, while the county provides voting machines and counts ballots.
With the joint primary, political parties will share precincts and equipment.
County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth said under a new state law, Senate Bill 924, the county wouldn’t have had enough voting machines to host separate primaries.
“It would have required us to have twice the amount of polls that we ever had in the history of Harris County, in terms of 50 percent of precincts,” Hudspeth said. “Harris County is large. That would have led to, in a separate primary, over 1,000 polls on Election Day.”
Hudspeth told KHOU that voting in this new joint primary will be like casting a ballot in the November general election.
“You’ll go and early vote,” Hudspeth said. “You can vote at any location because Harris County is in a countywide program. The only thing different that voters will experience is when you walk in, you’ll be asked, ‘Would you like to vote a Democratic ballot or Republican ballot?’"
Texas conducts open primaries, meaning voters don’t have to register with a party and can vote in either the Republican or Democrat primaries.
Harris County’s central counting station on March 5 will be at the Election Technology Center. Their usual location, NRG Arena, will be busy hosting the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.
On Thursday, Commissioners Court will need to give final approval for the joint primary plan during a special meeting.
Early voting across Texas starts Feb. 20.