Early voting begins

Vote Here
Pictured is the Museum of San Benito at the San Benito Community Building, where residents can cast their ballots during early voting.
(Photo by David Lopez)

By DAVID LOPEZ
editor@sbnewspaper.com

Early voting for the Texas primary runoff election began this past Monday.

Early voting will run until July 10, with primary election day on July 14.

The Cameron County Department of Elections and Voter Registration Elections Administrator Remi Garza said that all workers at voting locations are wearing masks and have face shields and gloves available to them. Hand sanitizer is also provided for voters at the locations’ entrance, and workers are rotating multiple pens for the ballots.

Garza wished to stress that only the Democratic ballot will allow for county-wide participation, as the Republican ballot features only one runoff race for Constable Precinct 1 between Norman Esquivel, Jr. and Pedro Delgadillo. The election applies only to the Laguna Madre area, meaning registered Republicans outside of this area, such as Harlingen or San Benito, are ineligible to vote in that ballot.

The Democratic ballot features several runoffs from the federal to the county level, including the closely watched races for state senator between long-time incumbent Eddie Lucio Jr. and challenger Sara Stapleton-Barrera and Sheriff’s runoff between Sheriff Omar Lucio and former Cameron County District Clerk Eric Garza.

HOURS
Hours for the first week of early voting (June 29 to July 2) are from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Voting locations will be closed July 3 and 4 in observance of the Fourth of July holiday.

Voting will reopen Sunday, July 5, from noon to 5 p.m.

Early voting will begin again on Monday, July 6, and run until June 10. The hours for that week are from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

VOTING LOCATIONS IN CAMERON COUNTY

SAN BENITO
San Benito Community Building, 210 E. Heywood St.

LOS FRESNOS
Los Fresnos Community Building, 204 N. Brazil

RIO HONDO
Rio Hondo ISD Administrative Building, 215 W. Colorado St.

LOS INDIOS
Los Indios Community Center, 308 Heywood St.

Editor’s note: This article has been edited for length. To read the full story, click here or make sure to grab a copy of the July 3-9, 2020 issue of the NEWS.