Early voting for Texas primaries begins

Early voting for Texas primaries is underway and election officials are hoping for a big turnout.

Texas is an open primary state which means you can vote in either of the Democratic or Republican primaries but just not in both.

Travis County has 33 early voting locations and they're all open so if you live in the county you can go to any of those polling sites.

There's a new voting system this year too. FOX 7 Austin's Jacqueline Sarkissian details on that from Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir.

There are a number of important races to keep on eye on.

Each party is choosing its candidate for president and the U.S. Senate as well as congressional and legislative seats, State Board of Education, Railroad Commission and judicial positions.

If no candidate receives a majority of the vote in the primary, the top two candidates will compete in a primary runoff on May 26.

Early voting lasts for 10 days and ends on February 28. Officials urge people to vote early to avoid lines on Election Day.

RELATED: Election officials urge voters to vote early and avoid long lines on Election Day

For any Texan who doesn't vote early the state's primary election day is March 3.

You can more information here.