Valley voters to decide local city and school races on Saturday

Rio Grande Valley voters will have one more chance to cast their vote for the May 4 elections with the conclusion of early voting on Tuesday.

Hidalgo County voters will be deciding races and propositions for the Hidalgo County Appraisal District; for the cities of Donna, Elsa, Hidalgo, La Villa, Mission and Palmview; for the Hidalgo, Mercedes, Mission, Progreso and Sharyland school districts; and for South Texas College.

After eight days of early voting, a total of 18,023 ballots were cast in Hidalgo County. The early votes cast in Hidalgo County include 16,193 in-person ballots and 1,830 mail-in ballots.

There will be 38 polling locations open for Hidalgo County voters to cast their ballots on Saturday. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

There will be 42 polling locations open for Cameron County voters on Election Day. Voters are encouraged to look up their precincts before heading to the polls on Saturday.

Voters in Cameron County will decide races for the Cameron Appraisal District General Election, the city of Brownsville, Brownsville ISD, the Brownsville Navigation District, Texas Southmost College, Harlingen CISD, San Benito CISD and the city of San Benito.

As of Tuesday evening, the number of early votes cast in those elections include:

>> Cameron Appraisal District: 12,773;

>> City of Brownsville special election: 6,690;

>> Texas Southmost College: 8,809;

>> Brownsville Navigation District: 7,174;

>> Brownsville Independent School District special election: 5,868;

>> Harlingen Consolidated School District: 1,184;

>> San Benito Consolidated Independent School District: 2,147; and

>> City of San Benito: 1,648.

Polls will be open Saturday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Voters will need at least one of the seven approved forms of identification in order to cast their ballots, including a Texas driver license issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS); a Texas Election Identification Certificate issued by DPS; a Texas Personal Identification Card issued by DPS; a Texas Handgun License issued by DPS; a United States Military Identification Card containing the person’s photograph; a United States Citizenship Certificate containing the person’s photograph; or a United States Passport (book or card).

Registered voters who may not have one of the acceptable forms of photo identification may still be able to cast their vote with one of seven forms of approved photo identification and by signing a declaration of impediment at the polls explaining why the voter was reasonably unable to obtain one of the seven forms of approved photo identification.

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

For more information, voters in Hidalgo County can visit www.hidalgocounty.us/elections or call (956) 318-2570.

For more information, voters in Cameron County can visit cameronvotes.com or call (956) 544-0809.