Early voting begins Monday. Here's what you need to know to cast your ballot.
Early voting begins Monday for the Texas midterm general elections, and voters in Lubbock County and across the South Plains are gearing up to make their voices heard in several high-profile statewide races and a smattering of local races as well.
Election Day is Nov. 8 and early voting runs from Oct. 24 through Nov. 4. The final day to submit an application to vote by mail is Oct. 28.
In Lubbock, early voting takes place at the Lubbock County Elections Office, 1308 Crickets Ave.; Citizens Tower, the Texas Tech Student Recreation Center, and at United Supermarkets, Amigos and Market Street locations across the city.
Elsewhere in Lubbock County, residents can vote early at Frenship ISD's Casey Administration Building in Wolfforth, Abernathy City Hall, Idalou Community Center, New Deal Community Clubhouse, Roosevelt ISD Arena, Shallowater Community Center and Slaton Community Clubhouse.
Most early voting locations in Lubbock County are open daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. A ballot can be cast at any location in the county. A full list of polling places, hours and other information is available online at votelubbock.org or by calling (806) 775-1339.
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Early voting in Plainview is taking place Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Justice Center, 225 S. Broadway. In Levelland, voters can cast a ballot Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Hockley County Elections Office, 911 Austin St.
Voters will need a form of identification to cast a ballot. Acceptable forms of photo ID include: Texas driver license, Texas election ID certificate, Texas personal ID card, Texas handgun license, U.S. citizenship certificate with photo, U.S. military ID with photo or U.S. passport.
If a voter does not have an ID and cannot reasonably obtain one, other options are available. Those are listed at votelubbock.org or by calling (806) 775-1339.
This will be the first election in Lubbock County to use new voting machines with a paper ballot backup after Texas lawmakers last year passed a law requiring counties to have a paper method for voting. Voting will still be done on electronic kiosks; however, a piece of paper will be printed off and needs to be fed into a scanner as part of the state-mandated effort supporters say will help prevent voter fraud.
More: Lubbock County Elections Office to unveil paper balloting for upcoming midterms
The November ballot features races for numerous statewide seats, including governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, agriculture commissioner, land commissioner, comptroller and one of three Railroad Commission seats.
Several local races are also taking place, including a $200 million street improvement bond election known as Proposition A in the City of Lubbock, 23 amendments to the Slaton city charter labeled Propositions A-W, a contested Lubbock County Commissioner and Justice of the Peace seat and several water district seats.
The Hale County ballot features a challenged Commissioners Court and County Surveyor seat, and in Plainview, voters will decide whether to adopt an ordinance outlawing abortion in the city.
The A-J's Mateo Rosiles contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Early voting begins Monday. Here's what you need to know to cast your ballot.
