Early voting in Jim Wells County Feb. 17-27 for March 3 primary

Jim Wells County voters began casting early in-person ballots for the March 3, 2026 joint primary on Tuesday, Feb. 17, and the county’s early-voting window runs through Feb. 27, the county elections office and local news coverage urged registered voters to take advantage of the shorter lines before Election Day on March 3. Local officials encouraged early participation as a way to avoid Election Day crowds and to ensure ballots are cast well before potential weather or scheduling conflicts.

Statewide context affects Jim Wells County voters. Blaise Gainey of KUT Public Media noted in a Feb. 17 dispatch that “Starting today, Texas voters can cast their ballots early for the state’s March 3 party primaries. The results of these elections will determine who represents Republicans and Democrats on the ballot in November.” KUT’s coverage also reminds voters that “In Texas, to win a primary outright, a candidate needs to receive 51% of the vote,” and that “If no candidate reaches that threshold for a particular race, that party’s voters will be asked to cast another ballot during runoff elections in May.” KUT further explained Texas’s open primary rule: “Texas has open primaries, which means you can choose to vote in either the Democratic or Republican primary when you show up at your polling place. However, once you choose which party’s primary you’ll be voting in this year, you’ll have to stick with it through the runoff elections.”

Local polling places for the March 3 primary have not been published by the county in the material available to this newsroom. The county’s posted Order of Special Election from May 2022 lists four sites used for that special election: PREMONT CITY HALL, 200 SOUTH AGNES ST, PREMONT TEXAS 78355; BEN BOLT FITNESS CENTER, 401 WHITLEY, BEN BOLT TEXAS 78332; JWC COURTHOUSE, 200 NORTH ALMOND, ALICE TEXAS 78332; and ORANGE GROVE CITY HALL, 310 W PUNDT AVE, ORANGE GROVE TEXAS 78372. That 2022 document carries the instruction in all caps: “ALL REGISTERED JIM WELLS COUNTY VOTERS MAY VOTE AT ANY OF THE LOCATIONS BELOW.” The schedule printed in that 2022 order shows early-voting blocks of 8AM-5PM including lunch hour and an Election Day schedule of 7AM-7PM for May 7, 2022, but those dates and hours are specific to the May 2022 special election and should not be assumed to apply to the 2026 primary without county confirmation.

Several practical items remain to be confirmed with the Jim Wells County Elections Office before voters head to the polls: the official list of early-voting sites for Feb. 17–27, 2026; daily opening and closing hours at each site during the early-vote window; whether the county will again allow voters to cast early ballots at any county site; availability of curbside voting or accommodations; and the county’s sample ballots and lists of contested local races on the March 3 ballot. Voters should contact the Jim Wells County Elections Administrator or the county elections office to verify polling locations and to obtain sample ballots before heading to a site. The early-voting window closes Feb. 27 and any voter who chooses a party’s primary at the polling place must remain with that party through potential May runoffs.