Early Voting Begins Today

Early voting for the March 4 primaries begins today and runs through Feb. 29. Important things to note:

• You may vote any early or mobile voting station in the county in which you are registered (Travis County locations here), but if you decide you'd rather vote on election day, then you must vote in your neighborhood precinct. [UPDATE: I thought about doing this myself, but KVUE's Elise Hu beat me to it – she made a Google map of the county's voting locations.]

• Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir strongly encourages everyone to vote early. Because Texas will play a crucial role in determining the Democratic presidential nomination, she expects a huge turnout this year. "I feel like we're running ahead of an avalanche," she told reporters last week. Most voters wait until election day, and more than half of those wait until after 3pm. If you wait until election day, you'll likely encounter long lines and frustrating delays.

• Regardless of whether you vote early or on e-day, you should go to your precinct polling place after the polls close at 7pm on March 4 to participate in your precinct caucus, especially if you're a Democrat. We'll have more in next week's issue on why, but the simplified version is this: about three-quarters of the delegates for the Democratic presidential race will be determined by the popular vote, but the rest will be decided by whoever shows up at the precinct caucuses. If you don't show up, you're giving up some of your potential influence on the nomination.

• All you need to vote: your voter registration card is enough. If you can't find it or don't have it, produce some other form of ID (drivers license, or even a utility bill showing your name and address). If you are a first-time voter in Travis County who registered to vote by mail and did not previously provide a copy of ID, you must show a form of ID other than a Voter Registration Certificate before voting.