WACO, Texas (KXXV) — Early voting kicks off this morning at five locations across McLennan County, and local voters are emphasizing the importance of being prepared before heading to the polls.
25 News spoke with neighbors who shared their advice as election season gets underway, with early voting running through March 3.
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Joseph Payne, a Waco resident I encountered while he was putting up signs in his yard, stressed the significance of primary elections.
"I'd probably tell them that too often people don't think the primary election is that important, and it really is because by the time you get to the general election, you don't have a lot of choice as far as your candidates, so you really need to focus on the primary elections," Payne said.
Payne decided who to vote for through personal research and encourages others to do the same.
"Just that as much research as you can do, obviously you want to be an intelligent voter. So you don't want to just look at the campaign literature that comes out and make a choice based on what they're telling you they are, look and see who they really are," Payne said.
David Russell, a Woodway city councilman, highlighted the importance of local races that many voters overlook, particularly the district clerk's race.
"District clerk's race, such an important race because people don't realize district clerk is not just who you go to to go to jury pools, which is so important, but the other thing is keep all the documents for our county," Russell said.
Russell is encouraging all local voters to get informed before showing up to vote and to engage with their community.
"Talk to your neighbors. Have you voted yet? Please vote," Russell said.
Early voting sites are open daily at five locations:
- McLennan County Elections Administration Office
- Robinson Community Center
- Waco First Assembly of God Church
- Hewitt City Hall/Library
- Waco Multi-Purpose Community Center
