JEFFERSON COUNTY, Texas — Beaumont residents are getting a jump on voting season with the first day of early voting now officially open.
"Our forefathers died for us to have this right. And I'm just so blessed and thankful that I'm able to come out and vote." Hilda Bell of Beaumont told 12News. "I know the candidates that I would like to vote for and I'm just ready to go."
Treva Smith said that she's voting early too.
"First of all I want to beat the crowd and secondly I believe in these elections and I believe that we ought to come out, get in here early and get our people voted for. We've get the right people in office," Smith said.
Jefferson County Clerk Roxanne Acosta-Hellberg says that 600 out of a targeted 6,600 have already come out and voted.
"How do you want serious conditions, circumstances taken care of? You know, do you trust the person that's in that office to do it? Do you have the confidence in their ability to continue to do that job?" Acosta-Hellberg told 12News.
Races like Jefferson County Sherriff and the contentious District 21 race are up for grabs.
VOTER GUIDE | Check out 12News' Voter Guide here
Voter Thomas Siege is excited to vote for the Constable of Precinct 6 and he is encouraging everyone to get to know the candidates before they vote.
"There's a lot of contested races here in Jefferson County and I've done my homework, I've studied the candidates," Siege said, "I want to give the best choice. For the best opportunity for Jefferson county to be successful."
If a person is out there wondering if their vote actually matters, Beaumont voter Treva Smith has a message for them.
"Everything counts now and if you don't come out and vote you're just gonna be one in the number who gets to complain when things don't go your way." Smith told 12News.