Update 9 p.m.:

According to Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth an ongoing heavy rainfall caused election officials to call for a pause of election judges dropping off their required vote materials at the BakerRipley Aldine rally site – one of the four rally sites.

Hudspeth said the weather event is expected to be brief; however, if it lasts longer than anticipated the back-up plan is to redirect the judges assigned to this location to one of the other three rally sites.

Early returns which include in-person and ballot by mail early votes were released around 7 p.m. As of 9 p.m. only 17 of the 450 Election Day vote centers were reporting results, and Hudspeth said the county will continue to release numbers throughout the night.

Update 1 p.m.:

Saturday morning the West Gray Multi-Service Center’s parking lot was full to the brim with cars and canvassers hoping to appeal to passersby to vote for their candidates.

Activity and energy were high at the largest polling location in Harris County. This intensity was not seen across all the vote centers, as Hudspeth said at many of the locations only one voter came through the doors.

A member of the Houston LGBTQ+ Political Caucus stood out in front of West Gray. She said she noticed many young voters coming out to the center to cast their ballots. She added that several politicians, including Houston City Council candidates Leticia Plummer and Julian Ramirez, had dropped by.

Saturday kicked off to a quiet, slower start than November’s general election, with voters
trickling to the polls through the later morning and early afternoon hours.

Hudspeth said operations were running smoothly, noting that 99 percent of vote centers opened on time – fewer delays than in November. She said the late openings that did occur resulted from election judges arriving late and other related issues.

According to Hudspeth, the county's Service Now system – a phone line that helps connect the Elections Office, poll workers and technicians – received 54 calls from voters and 296 calls from election workers.

She added that most of the voters were asking where to vote or whether or not they could go to a specific location and where the closet center was in proximity to them. The calls from election workers were all related to the morning setup process, getting inside the facility, and getting ready to go.

"Sometimes, we have facilities that are not used to opening, and they're pushing it to the limit right before 7 o'clock. So, we had a little bit of that this morning," Hudspeth said. "A couple of election judges that may have slept over. But at the end of the day, we had everybody in place read to go, and we've worked through those [delays].

All voting facilities were open by 10 a.m., with nearly 14,000 voters having cast their ballots. Hudspeth said going into Saturday night, voters should be tracking early returns, which are expected to be released around 7 p.m. as lower turnout elections – such as this one – usually see more than half of the vote during early voting.

Original story:

Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth vows that Election Day today will run smoothly for the runoffs that among other races, will determine who will be Houston's next mayor.

With polls open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday at more than 400 vote centers in the county,  It will be voters' last opportunity to participate in December’s runoff election. Other races include controller and seven Houston City Council positions.

“It’s Saturday, make no excuses, get out to vote,”  Hudspeth said during a press conference on Friday ahead of Election Day. “ Make your voices heard and make sure that you’re impactful in the city election.”

Hudspeth said election officials prepared by ensuring the voting equipment was cleaned and maintained and workers had all the necessary supplies – such as ballot paper.

According to Hudspeth, about 5,000 election day workers are in the field Saturday, with more working at Harris County’s central count center, NRG. She added that all of those working this election received refresher training courses.

“One of the biggest things that we were really intent on in November and have been through December is training,” Hudspeth said. “It is a big job for the election judges and workers – not only to have the equipment ready to go and know how to handle it – but all forms and documents they’re required to fill out.”

Hudspeth said election officials are continuing this instruction and covering training for rally site workers. In November, the county revisited using this system, which creates drop-off points where election judges are required to turn in boxes of necessary materials and voting items.

This time, the county has four rally sites, not six, the number set up in November. One of the four sites is NRG, which is similar to the last election.

Hudspeth said she was not concerned about delays as only a small margin of vote centers didn’t open on time in November. She added this could happen for several reasons, including an election judge not showing up on time, being sick the morning of or having another matter come up.


She said she is focused more on getting voters out to the vote centers, given it is a Saturday Election day. As of Friday morning, 132,000 votes – including early ballot by mail and in-person voting – were cast, according to Hudspeth.

Hudspeth said there is no way for her to predict the exact turnout; however, election officials are estimating roughly 17 percent of registered voters will turn out to the polls.

In Baytown the District 4 City Council seat is up for grabs and Bellaire residents will be voting for their next mayor.

This story will be updated throughout the day.