HOUSTON — Voters want convenience. They don’t want to stand in long lines or travel long distances to cast their ballot. That's one reason a lot of people will vote early for the midterm election.
Charlie asked the Verify team, “Is it true there are fewer early voting locations in Harris County than in the past?”
Our source for this is the Harris County Elections Office Deputy Director of Communication Nadia Hakim. She said that is false.
“No, not at all. In fact, we’ve more than doubled the locations. In the last gubernatorial election (2018) there were 46 early voting locations in Harris County. This year, there will be 99. We’ve got more registered voters in Harris County. We have almost 2.6 million registered voters throughout the county. And not only that. You know, there’s just not enough time on Election Day,” Hakim said.
Hakim said elections officials consider several factors when determining which locations will become polling places.
“We look at the data. We look at the number of registered voters in the area, and then what’s available to us,” Hakim explained.
She said elections officials also consider square footage, ADA compliance, and a variety of other things. The locations were confirmed months ago, according to Hakim.
So, we can Verify that no, there are not fewer voting locations in Harris County this year.
Early voting runs from October 24 – November 4. Harris County elections administrators said the best way to avoid long lines is to cast your ballot sooner rather than later.