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Early voting kicked off Monday and the first four days in Hidalgo and Cameron counties have already brought a large turnout in comparison to the 2022 mid-term elections, with 69% and 49% increases, respectively.
According to the Hidalgo County Elections Department, the county had 68,794 ballots cast for early voting from Monday to Thursday, which is an increase of 28,204 votes, or 69% from 2022.
The total for the first four days of early voting in 2022 had 40,590 ballots cast.
In-person voting makes up almost the entire increase of early votes in 2026, totaling 65,230 ballots cast with 2022 having 37,027 votes in the same span.
Mail-in voting in 2026 is almost perfectly on par with 2022 in the four-day span. Hidalgo County currently has 3,564 mail-in ballots in 2026, and 2022 had 3,563 in the same time period.
Cameron County had a total of 32,305 ballots cast in the first four days of early voting, which is a 49% increase, or 10,643 votes from 2022 that had 21,662 ballots cast.
In the state, Texas saw a total of 2,249,055 ballots cast as of Thursday, according to VoteHub.
Federal, state and local races are drawing out voters during early voting.
The Texas gubernatorial race between three-term Republican incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott and Democratic state Rep. and Brownsville native Gina Hinojosa. That race along with the U.S Senate race between Democratic candidate James Talarico and Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton are two of the biggest races for both counties.
Voters are also turning out for congressional races.
Hidalgo County voters are deciding District 15 between Republican incumbent Monica De La Cruz and Democrat challenger Bobby Pulido, and in some parts of the county for District 28 between 11-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar against Republican and Webb County Judge Tano Tijerina.
The race for District 34, which includes all of Cameron County and some portions of Hidalgo County, has Democratic U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez seeking his sixth term in office against Republican challenger Eric Flores.
State races include Districts 35, 40 and 41 in Hidalgo County and 37 and 38 in Cameron County.
Elections such as in the city of Mission and South Padre Island, and the Cameron County Judge, Hidalgo County District Attorney and school board seats in Edinburg, PJSA, Brownsville and Los Fresnos are some of the local races that could also be drawing out voters to the polls.
Hidalgo County voters still looking to cast their ballots early have from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday and from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 26, through Friday, Oct. 30, across 33 polling locations.
Election Day voting on Tuesday, Nov. 3, has polls open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. with 69 polling locations available.
In Cameron County, voters have a chance through Friday, Oct. 23, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday, Oct. 24, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Sunday, Oct. 25, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Monday, Oct. 26 through Friday, Oct. 30, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at 21 early voting locations.
On Election Day, the county will have 59 locations with polls open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.