AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Early voting opened across Texas on Monday, bringing long lines and record first-day midterm turnout in Houston and complaints about outdated technology slowing people casting ballots elsewhere.
It took Harris County, which includes Houston, less than six hours to set a new opening day of early voting record for midterm elections with more than 36,000 votes cast — exceeding the around 26,000 ballots cast there during the 2010 midterms, County Clerk Stan Stanart told the Houston Chronicle.
Dallas County was also flirting with surpassing the first-day turnout of 2016 — an unusual feat since turnout in presidential election years is typically higher.
President Donald Trump was holding a Houston rally for Sen. Ted Cruz on Monday evening, and the lines to attend that event swelled hours before it started. Cruz is locked in a closer-than-expected re-election battle with Democratic Congressman Beto O’Rourke of El Paso — the cycle’s most-watched Texas race.
In Travis County, home to Austin, Tax Assessor Collector Bruce Elfant said on Facebook that more than 36,000 people cast early ballots by 4 p.m. Monday, nearly doubling first-day totals from the last midterms in 2014. Tarrant County, which includes Fort Worth, announced exceeding 37,000 votes — around triple the first-day early voting turnout for 2014.
Approximately 15.8 million people are registered to vote statewide, 4 percent higher than those registered during the March statewide primary. Early voting runs through Nov. 2. Election Day is Nov. 6.
Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said 42,000-plus people had voted by 4:30 p.m. Monday, and that the county could exceed the first day of early voting turnout for the presidential election in 2016.
At one polling place in Plano, a northern Dallas suburb, the wait in line to vote early Monday afternoon was about 30 minutes.
“I just wanted to come the first day and get it out of the way,” said Rahim Sewani, one of those in line. He said the line “was moving pretty fast” and that the election workers “know what they are doing, so it wasn’t bad at all.”
Democratic U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro of San Antonio held a news conference to complain about a lack of polling station personnel and computer glitches adding to wait times at one ormorelocal voting station. He also complained that voting machines in some areas provide no paper record of ballots cast.
Suresh Nayak said he has lived in Texas for 30 years and Monday was the first vote he has ever cast.
“I was waiting for this. The way things are going, I couldn’t wait to vote,” Nayak said, though he declined to say for whom he voted.
And that’s exactly as it should be. Everybody votes. Because when everybody votes, Democrats win.
If history is our guide (and it still should be) the GOP will now pull out the stops with racism, fear and blatant lies- even going so far as to try to confuse people over the date to vote! They are shameless and will stop at NOTHING to steal another election.
Don’t let the rancid remains of the GOP continue their assault on Democracy.
Get to the polls and take 5 people along with you.
Vote like your life depended on it!
When I was planning to vote yesterday, I did note that the longest wait times in Travis (Austin) yesterday were in conservative areas. It may have just been a moment in time, but something to watch.
Travis wait time map
In the event that all signs were to point to an even greater than anticipated wave of support is coming out for the Democrats in Texas… what “crisis” / "corruption of the voting process " might be conjured up that would be used to justify invalidating the results? Will we suddenly hear about ISIS hackers who manipulated the voting mechanisms in every precint?
Unfortunately, I think it means he voted for Cruz. Many Republicans know how loathsome their party is but still vote for the imagined financial advantages, as well all know. Also, I’m sure we’ll be hearing about polling sites running out of ballots, etc., etc., on Election Day …