Early voting for Tuesday’s midterm election ended Friday night with 1,081,010 Harris County voters already counted, marking the most ever for a midterm in the county and capturing more than a third of all registered voters.
Record Turnout Drives Harris County Voters to Polls
The final day of early voting brought the heaviest traffic of the 12-day window. A total of 126,397 residents cast ballots in person on Friday according to the Harris County Elections Department, surpassing the opening-day count of 104,656 and eclipsing every daily total in between. Across the full 12-day voting period, 1,036,349 people voted in person while 44,661 returned mail ballots.
With 2.7 million registered voters in Harris County, early ballots account for 39% of the electorate. Turnout is running well ahead of previous election cycles. At the same point in 2022, the last midterm, early and mail voting in the governor’s race totaled roughly 750,000 ballots. Through Thursday—the last day featuring a complete statewide count—Harris County’s early vote ran 26% ahead of the pace set in 2018, which stood as the previous midterm record.
The first week opened with daily totals exceeding 100,000 before tapering off toward Thursday. Volume picked back up in the second week, rising from 79,473 voters on Monday to 88,981 on Thursday, leading directly into Friday’s surge.
Neighboring Counties and Statewide Numbers Climb
Surrounding counties also established their own records during the early voting window. Fort Bend County logged 245,124 early voters through Thursday, with Friday’s totals still pending publication. Montgomery County reported 192,347 voters through Friday.
Statewide tallies released by the Texas Secretary of State on Friday showed nearly 7 million Texans cast early ballots, representing 36% of the state’s 19 million registered voters. That percentage will climb further because only 83 of Texas’s 254 counties had reported their Friday in-person totals when the state file was published, as individual counties upload data on their own schedules.
Comparative growth appeared across major urban centers compared to the 2018 midterms. Dallas County early voting rose 17%, Tarrant County climbed 27%, Bexar County increased 28%, Fort Bend County jumped 38%, and Montgomery County grew 37%.
Remaining Uncast Ballots and Election Day Logistics
Despite the record participation, roughly 1.66 million registered voters in Harris County did not cast a ballot during the early voting period.
Polls remain open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday. Harris County residents can cast their ballots at any of the county’s vote centers.
Frequently Asked Questions About Harris County Voting
Where can Harris County residents vote on Election Day?
Harris County voters can cast a ballot at any of the county’s vote centers.
How many mail ballots were returned during early voting?
Voters returned 44,661 mail ballots to election officials over the 12-day early voting period, alongside 1,036,349 in-person votes.
What percentage of registered voters participated early statewide?
The Texas Secretary of State reported that nearly 7 million residents, or 36% of the state’s 19 million registered voters, cast ballots early.
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