Your vote counts!

Early voting: October 13th - 30th, 2020

Election Day is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 3rd, 2020

Registered voters will now be able to make their way to the polls beginning Oct. 13th and ending Oct. 30th. We highly encourage you to vote early. Here are the Sunset Heights top 5 polling locations for Early voting:

1. Moody Park Community Center – Meeting room
3725 Fulton Street
Houston, TX 77009
Directions

2. SPJST Lodge Num 88 – Ballroom
1435 Beall Street
Houston, TX 77008-3441
Directions

3. Resurrection Metropolitan Community Church – Activities Building Classrooms 106 & 108
2025 West 11th Street
Houston, TX 77008
Directions

4. Resurrection Metropolitan Community Church (Drive-thru)
2025 West 11th Street
Houston, TX 77008-6320
Directions

5. West End Multi Service Center – Auditorium building 3
170 Heights Boulevard
Houston, TX 77007
Directions

These locations were found on Harris Votes, the main, official website about voting here, in Harris County. It's the election division of the county clerk's office. On this site you can also find sample ballots , a way to find additional polling places, all the rules and forms, and they publish the election returns.

If you’re voting by mail and have already received your mail-in ballot, here are a few tips from Amber McReynolds, CEO of the National Vote at Home Institute:

1. Fill out your ballot — correctly. There are two big things that can slip up voters when they are filling out a mail ballot: filling out the ballot incorrectly, and signing it incorrectly. Both steps can seem fairly straightforward, but not taking the extra minute to read the instructions can mean your local official has to contact you, or worse, your ballot doesn't get counted.

"If it says fill in the oval, fill in the oval," McReynolds says. Don't write a check mark or circle a name.

The second thing is signatures. These are on the outer envelope, not actually on the ballot. Make sure you sign that envelope. McReynolds says, don't use your "grocery store signature." Use your official signature to make sure that ballot ends up getting counted.

2. Return your ballot - Don't fill it out and then let it sit on the kitchen counter. When you finish filling it out and signing it, you should make sure you give the post office time to get it to your election official. In a lot of jurisdictions, you can actually track your ballot online like you'd track a package you bought online.

An IMPORTANT CHANGE for dropping off absentee (mail-in) ballots:

On Oct. 1st, Governer Greg Abbot shut down most drop-off sites for early mail votes. Houston had opened 12 sites to collect early mail ballots. The only early voting drop off location is now NRG Stadium.

For voters who want to return absentee ballots (mail-in ballots) in person rather than by mail, will only have one option - NRG Stadium. Plans for the NRG Park site call for Hall D of NRG Arena to serve the in-person component of early vote, while Blue Lot 16 will welcome drive-thru voters. Early voting at the complex is set for Oct. 13-30. Entry for all voting will be at Gate 8 off of Kirby Drive. Mail voters who choose the in-person delivery option will be required to provide an acceptable form of identification (TEC 63.0101).

P.S. Did you know high school students, 16 years and older may serve as election clerks in Texas elections??!? It's true and they even get paid! Teens that are interested can find more information here.

Developing your strategy:

League of Women Voters, Houston is nonpartisan organization, non-profit organization that believes in the power of every person to create a more perfect democracy.

For each election it sends the candidates a questionnaire and publishes their answers. The League then compiles the info and share it with the public. On their site you can read bios for the candidates, their party affiliation, and positions on big issues. You can also tell who's serious and who isn't, who gives thoughtful answers and who doesn't. The League also offers an election guide with information on referendums and other issues on the ballot. Additionally, there's a national site for the League of Women Voters - Vote411.org with the same type of content

The Houston Chronicle editorial page gives endorsements that come with reasoned evaluations of the candidates. And before the election, it publishes a summary of its endorsements and positions on ballot issues.

The Leader Newspaper - Community news for NW Houston may also publish something similar but don't have a dedicated page on their site.

OfftheCuff is a blog published by Charles Kuffner, who is a Heights resident and part-time political commentator. He appears on local TV sometimes, too. He tries to do in-depth interviews with candidates and writes in detail about ballot initiatives. He isn't without opinions, but he is thoughtful and fair. It's another place to research when you can't make up your mind or you want to hear more of what a candidate has to say.

Last but not least - the judicial races. Judicial candidates have to run with a party affiliation, even though skill at being a judge has little to do with which party they are identified with. The Houston Bar Association (HBA) polls its members each election year regarding their preferences for each race, and in non-election years they poll members about the judges' performance in certain areas. (Lawyers don't have to join the HBA or respond to the polls, but the ones who work in the courts generally do.) It's illuminating to see what they think about things like fairness, correctly applying the law, running the docket efficiently, treating parties with respect, etc. Judges tend to take notice of what the lawyers think of them and we thought you might want to too.