There's been no signs of a slowdown in the early-voting pace in Harris County, the clerk's office reports.

Voting today -- and for the four-day period so far -- has been about double that of 2004.

Says the clerk's office:

As of 4:52 pm on Oct. 23nd 2008, the County Clerk's early voting statistics showed that 44,067 persons had been processed for voting in Harris County on the fourth day of early voting in-person for the Nov. 8th 2008 election. In the 2004 Election, a total of 21,054 persons were processed during the fourth day of early voting in-person. The Clerk's statistics show that the four day total this year is 170,599 compared to 84,330 at this point in the last presidential election. That is a one-hundred and two percent increase compared to 2004.

Next week early-voting locations will be open until 7 pm at night. So there's still plenty of chances to avoid election-day hassles.

-- Richard Connelly