Breckenridge Texan

Today, Tuesday, March 3, is Primary Election Day for the citizens of Stephens County, as well as for the entire state of Texas and 13 other states.

Registered voters will be able to vote on either the Republican or Democratic candidates for public offices, ranging from President to a variety of local offices. For more details on the candidates and what’s on the local ballot, click here to visit the Breckenridge Texan’s 2020 March Primary Election page. The page includes sample ballots, candidate profiles and more.

Note: In the Primary Election, voters can vote in either the Republican or Democratic Party primaries; they cannot vote in both.

The Local Polls

In Stephens County, the polls opened at 7 a.m. today and will be open until 7 p.m. Voters who did not vote in Early Voting or by mail may vote at the appropriate precinct polling location. Your precinct is listed on your voter registration card. If your card isn’t readily available, you can get your precinct number by calling the Stephens County election office at 254-559-2732, visiting any of the precincts listed below and asking the election workers to help you figure out your precinct, or by visiting the Texas Secretary of State’s website (click here).

Stephens County Polling Locations:

• Precinct # 1: First National Bank Tower Room, 101 E. Walker St.
• Precinct # 2: Presbyterian Church Fellowship Hall, 1601 W. Elliott St.
• Precinct # 3: Breckenridge Chamber of Commerce, 100 E Elm St.
• Precinct # 4: B.I.S.D. Support Center (Bus Barn), 907 U.S. Highway 183 North
• Precinct # 5: Wayland Volunteer Fire Department, 10276 FM 1852

Voter ID

You do not have to have your voter registration card with you in order to vote, but you do have to have an acceptable form of photo ID, whether or not you have the voter registration card. Those acceptable IDs include (you just need one):

• Texas Driver License issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS)
• Texas Election Identification Certificate issued by DPS
• Texas Personal Identification Card issued by DPS
• Texas Handgun License issued by DPS
• United States Military Identification Card containing the person’s photograph
• United States Citizenship Certificate containing the person’s photograph
• United States Passport (book or card)

With the exception of the U.S. Citizenship Certificate, which does not expire, for voters aged 18-69, the acceptable form of photo identification may be expired no more than four years before being presented for voter qualification at the polling place. For voters aged 70 or older, the acceptable form of photo identification may be expired for any length of time if the identification is otherwise valid.

If you do not have one of those IDs, there are other forms of ID that may be accepted. Click here to visit the Vote Texas website for more information.

Early Voting

Early voting for the 2020 Primary Election was down slightly from the 2018 Primary Election in Stephens County. In the 2018 early voting, 885 Stephens County citizens voted at the courthouse, compared to 832 this year.

By the close of early voting on Friday, 944 of the 5,531 registered Stephens County voters had cast their ballots. Of those, 832 had cast their ballot in person at the courthouse and 112 had voted by mail.

Early voting was slightly down during this year’s Primary Election compared to the 2018 Primary Election. During the 2018 election there were two days when the polls were closed because of icy weather.

So far this year, Republican voters have far outnumbered Democrats with 892 to 52 in the local election.

Republican voters far outnumbered Democratic voters during the two weeks of early voting for the 2020 Primary Election that ended on Friday.

For more information about the Primary Election and local voting, visit the Stephens County Election page on the county’s website (click here).

Story by Tony Pilkington and Carla McKeown/Breckenridge Texan

Cutline, top photo: On election day, voters will cast their ballots at the precincts listed above, including at the Chamber of Commerce, pictured here in 2018. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)