It begins Monday, folks, and I urge you to take advantage of the opportunity to vote before election day at one of the many early voting sites in the area.

An unprecedented half-million Harris County voters are expected to cast early ballots for the presidential race and other offices during the two-week early voting period, an increase sparked in part by political parties and candidates urging supporters to vote before Election Day.

In response to the forecast of a record-high early vote that starts Monday in Texas, county officials have added extra polling stations and voting booths and new auxiliary equipment to keep waiting lines as short as possible.

The most interesting change is the addition of a card reader that will enable the poll workers to swipe your drivers’ license to get your identifying information more quickly – though a license is still not required to vote.

And I’d like to add a special note to all the voters of Seabrook’s Precinct 333 – as you may know, Evelyn Meador Library has been our polling place for years, but it is one of the many beloved casualties of Hurricane Ike last month. I was informed on Wednesday that our polling place this year will be Bay Elementary School – but be aware that we are voting in the back gymnasium, which is most easily accessed by entering the school grounds by way of city hall rather than off of Highway 146. We’ll be there for our usual hours – but I know that many of you (like me) are out of your homes. I’d therefore like to encourage you to take advantage of early voting if it is more convenient for you, especially if you are temporarily residing outside of the precinct. Not only do we have the presidential election, but Seabrook’s own Pete Olson is going to need all our votes in his effort to unseat Nick Lampson and put CD22 in the GOP column where it belongs. Add to that the importance of reelecting John Cornyn to the US Senate and Mike Jackson to the Texas Senate, as well as all the county and judicial races that are on the ballot, and a solidly conservative precinct like ours needs a strong turnout to ensure that we have the sort of government we believe in for the county, state, and nation. And yes, Democrats are welcome to come out and vote, too (that means you, Janet and Paula and the rest of you) – after all, events of the last few weeks have made it ever so clear how important it is that we make our voices heard.

A complete list of Harris County early voting locations and hours can be found here.