Early voting gets underway for March 5 primary elections

(Talk1370.com) -- Early voting begins Tuesday for the March 5 primary elections across the state, running through next Friday, March 1.

Texas is an open primary state, meaning registered voters can cast a ballot in either the Republican or Democratic primaries. You can cast a ballot in one or the other, but not both - and that choice extends to any runoff elections in the primary cycle.

Voters will decide the nominees for each party in races at the federal and state levels.

In Travis County, early voting locations will be open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. every day except for Sunday, when polls will be open from noon until 6 p.m. A handful of polling locations will be open from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m. next Thursday and Friday, Feb. 29 and March 1. A complete list of voting locations can be found at the Travis County Clerk's website .

In Williamson County, early voting locations will be open from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. through Friday this week. A complete list of WilCo early voting sites can be found here .

Details are also available online for Hays County , Caldwell County , and Bastrop County .

In order to vote in Texas, you will need to have a form of identification when you go to cast your ballot. These are the acceptable forms of photo identification:

*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
*U.S. Military Identification Card containing the person’s photograph
*U.S. Citizenship Certificate containing the person’s photograph
*U.S. Passport (book or card)

If you don't have one of the forms of identification listed above, and you can't reasonably obtain one, you can bring one of the following documents in order to execute a "Reasonable Impediment Declaration" at the polling place:

*Copy or original of a government document that shows the voter’s name and an address, including the voter’s voter registration certificate
*Copy of or an original, current utility bill
*Copy of or an original bank statement
*Copy of or original government check
*Copy of or original paycheck
*Copy of or original of (a) a certified domestic (from a U.S. state or territory) birth certificate or (b) a document confirming birth admissible in a court of law which establishes the voter’s identity (which may include a foreign birth document)