Early Voting Underway; Harris County Registration Backlog

Early voting is underway across multiple jurisdictions with varied windows — many Texas counties Oct. 20–31, Monroe County (Rochester, N.Y.) Oct. 25–Nov. 2, Bernalillo County (N.M.) through Nov. 1 and Doña Ana County Oct. 18–Nov. 1 — with dozens of local polling sites and jurisdiction-specific registration and absentee deadlines. Voters will face a mix of high-profile contests, including the Texas 18th Congressional District special election and Houston’s At‑Large Position 4, as well as numerous municipal, school board and local ballot measures. Harris County officials say a Texas Secretary of State software update disrupted state–county voter verification processes and produced a backlog of unprocessed registrations that has fallen from nearly 30,000 to under 1,000, which they expect to clear soon. Voters are urged to check registration status, sample ballots and polling locations and to note local absentee and mail‑ballot receipt deadlines. Local editorial endorsements and opinion debates over school funding and tax policy underscore how ballot measures and broader political fights are shaping turnout this cycle.