Early voting for the March 3 presidential primary elec­tions starts Tuesday, Feb. 18, and runs for 10 days through Feb. 28.

The elections are split into Democratic and Republican primaries to decide the candi­dates for office in the Novem­ber general election. Races on each party ballot run from presidential hopefuls down to county constable.

Because voters are picking presidential nominees, turn­out is expected to be high. In 2016, the last presidential election year, 31.34 percent of Collin county voters par­ticipated in the primaries.

Even though President Donald Trump is the heavy favorite to win the Republi­can nomination, he faces six challengers on Texas ballots. The most well known of those challengers is former Massa­chusetts Gov. Bill Weld.

Democratic ballots feature 17 candidates for the presi­dential nomination, although several of those have already dropped out of the contest.

Ballots for each political party include a list of non-binding propositions used to gauge voter opinions on a number of issues.

Early voting times are 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. Feb. 18-21; 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Feb. 22 and Feb. 24-28; and 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Feb. 23. Voters can cast ballots at any early voting center in Collin County.

In Farmersville, early vot­ing will be conducted at Farm­ersville City Hall, 205 S. Main Street. Other nearby sites are Princeton City Hall, 123 W. Princeton Drive; and Blue Ridge ISD Administration Building, 318 W. School Street.

Voters must be at least 18 years of age and show an acceptable form of photo­graphic identification at the polling place. Acceptable forms of identification are a Texas Driver License, Texas Election Identification Certi­fication issued by the Depart­ment of Public Safety, Texas Personal Identification Card issued by the DPS, Texas Handgun License, U.S. Mili­tary Identification Care, U.S. Citizenship Certificate, or U.S. Passport. If a voter does not possess one of the forms of acceptable photo identification listed above, and the voter can­not reasonably obtain such iden­tification, the voter may execute a Reasonable Impediment Dec­laration and present a copy or original government document that shows the voter’s name and address, including the voter’s voter registration certificate; cur­rent utility bill; bank statement; government check; paycheck; or a U.S. or state birth certificate.

For more stories like this, see the Feb. 13 issue or subscribe online.

Joe Reavis • [email protected]