Harris County closes early voting with a record and its biggest day

Early voting for Tuesday's election ended Friday night with 1,081,010 Harris County voters already counted, the most ever for a midterm in the county and more than a third of everyone registered.

The final day was the biggest. 126,397 people voted in person on Friday, according to the Harris County Elections Department, beating the opening-day crowd of 104,656 and every day in between. Over the 12 days, 1,036,349 people voted in person and 44,661 returned mail ballots.

The county has 2.7 million registered voters. Early voting accounts for 39% of that total. At the same point in 2022, the last midterm, early and mail voting in the governor's race totaled roughly 750,000.

The pace followed the usual shape. The first week opened at more than 100,000 a day and eased by Thursday. The second week climbed back, from 79,473 on Monday to 88,981 on Thursday, before Friday's surge.

Neighboring counties set their own records. Fort Bend County had counted 245,124 early voters through Thursday, with Friday's total still to be posted. Montgomery County reported 192,347 through Friday.

Statewide, the Texas Secretary of State's Friday file showed nearly 7 million Texans had voted early, 36% of the 19 million registered. That number will grow: only 83 of the state's 254 counties had reported their Friday in-person totals when the file was published, and counties upload on their own schedules. Through Thursday, the last day with a complete statewide count, Harris County's early vote ran 26% ahead of the same point in 2018, the previous midterm record. Dallas County was up 17%, Tarrant 27%, Bexar 28%, Fort Bend 38%, and Montgomery 37%.

On the flip side, about 1.66 million registered voters in Harris County have not voted.

Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, and Harris County voters can cast a ballot at any of the county's vote centers.