Early voting gets under way today

Early voting begins today, Feb. 16 for the Republican and Democratic primaries, as well as village association elections in The Woodlands.
In addition to state races, local primary races include County Judge, Commissioner for Precinct 4, District Clerk County Court at Law 2 and the 221st District Court.
Early voting for the primaries are available at six locations in the county from Feb. 16-19, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., on Feb. 20 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., on Feb. 21 from noon to 5 p.m. and from Feb 22-26, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Among the early voting locations are the North Montgomery County Community Center are 600 Gerald St. in Willis; the Malcolm Purvis Library at 510 Melton St. in Magnolia; the East County Courthouse Annex at 21130 U.S. 59 South in New Caney; the South County Community Building at 2235 Lake Woodlands Drive in The Woodlands; the West County Courthouse Annex at 19380 Texas 105 West, Suite 507 in Montgomery and the Montgomery County Administration Building at 207 W. Phillips St. in Conroe.
Primary election day is March 2 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at various polling locations throughout the county.
In The Woodlands, residents can select members to sit on the eight village associations and their residential design review committees, which are architectural review groups for renovations in each area. There are more than 100 positions open throughout the community, including executive board members in Cochran's Crossing, College Park, Creekside Park, Indian Springs and Panther Creek.
This also will be the first election for village association positions in Creekside Park.
With the transition from the Community Associations of The Woodlands to the township on Jan. 1, the village associations are expected to take a greater role in serving as a voice for residents. In May, the township board will be reduced from 11 to seven members to represent 90,000 residents.
In the past, there were three homeowner associations that acted as the governing bodies in the community.
Early voting in the village elections will be available through Feb. 19 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at The Woodlands Township Service Center at 2201 Lake Woodlands Drive. Election day will be Feb. 20 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the service center.
For more information, call 936-539-7843 or go to http://www.co.montgomery.tx.us/election/