According to Saundra Bloom, Howard County elections administrator, her office will wrap up early voting — which is being held on the third floor of the county courthouse — at 7 p.m.

“This is the last day for early voting, and the hours have been extended from the normal 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. hours to 7 a.m. until 7 p.m., so we're really hoping voters will take advantage of it,” said Bloom. “A lot of people simply can't get away from work to cast their ballot during the day, so this gives them a chance to beat the lines on election day, which is Saturday.”

There seems to be some question just how long lines will be at the polls Saturday, with early voting totals a rather sketchy indicator.

“Early voting has been pretty slow this year,” said Bloom. “We've seen around 3 to 4 percent of the registered voters in each race come in and vote early, which is really low. So it's really hard to say what's going to happen on election day. Either everyone will wait until then and we'll be swamped, or we'll see the same sort of numbers trickle in as we've seen with early voting.”

In addition to the extended hours today at the courthouse, Bloom said there will be branch voting held at the Coahoma Community Center, also from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.

In this year's election, the District 2 seat on the Big Spring City Council features incumbent Councilman Manuel Ramirez Jr., who is taking on challengers Terena Rustman and Raul Marquez. Ramirez isn't the only incumbent defending a seat on the Big Spring Council, as District 4 Councilwoman Gloria McDonad is taking on challengers Joyce Crooker and John Huck Huckabee.

The District 6 seat, which is currently held by Greg Biddison, who decided no to run for re-election, is also up for grabs. The contest has drawn a slew of candidates, as local residents Terry Hansen, Steven Campbell and Bahola DeLeon are vying for the seat..

The city of Coahoma has three seats — all three are at-large — up for election. Seats held by incumbents David Elmore, Ricky Stone and Mayor Bill Read are up for election. According to city officials, Jay Holt, Ray Lee, Ronnie Dodson and Elmer F. Lindsey are running for the two council seats, while Warren Wallace and Linda Luce are seeking the mayor's post. All three incumbents did not run for re-election.

There are several seats on local school boards hanging in the balance, as well.

Two seats came up for election this year in the Big Spring Independent School District. District 4 incumbent Tony Kennedy failed to draw an opponent in the May 9 contest. However, District 2 trustee Maria Padilla, who is running for re-election, is facing off against local resident Edwin Ware in the only contested race in the Big Spring school district.

In Coahoma, there are three at-large seats up for election this year, with four political hopefuls vying for the opportunity. Brian Moore, the lone challenger in the contest, is going head-to-head with incumbents Jody Reid, Alan Wright and Kirk Allen for a seat on the board.

Sands Consolidated Independent School District is also holding a race during the May election, also with three at-large trustee seats up for grabs. Incumbents Amy Parker and Tommy Staggs is competing with challengers Wes Hughes, Nate Avey, Matt Snell, Rick Timmins and Bill Barnes for one of the three seats.

For more information on the election, contact Bloom's office at 264-2273.

Contact Staff Writer Thomas Jenkins at 263-7331 ext. 232 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it