Dallas-Fort Worth has one more week of early voting
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Registered voters can cast a ballot in any of their county's early voting locations. Photo: Tasha Tsiaperas/Axios
Nearly 2.6 million Texans filled out their ballots in the first three days of early voting.
- That's about 14% of the more than 18.6 million registered voters in the state, per the Texas secretary of state.
The latest: Early voting continues Friday and this weekend, with polling places open from 7am to 7pm Saturday and six hours Sunday, but the hours vary by county.
- Voting centers will be open 7am to 7pm Monday through Friday next week.
The big picture: Dallas-Fort Worth has added nearly a million registered voters since the first time Trump ran for president, in 2016.
- Some counties, like Denton, have seen a massive jump since the last presidential election, in 2020. The county has added nearly 98,000 registered voters since then.
By the numbers: Dallas County lags with about 11% of voters turning out so far, per secretary of state figures.
- Nearly 20% of Denton County's registered voters have turned out, compared with almost 17% in Collin County and 13% in Tarrant County.
The intrigue: Denton County polling places have been open from 7am to 7pm this week, much longer than the hours set in Collin, Dallas and Tarrant counties.
- That may have led to the high turnout.
Zoom out: Other major Texas counties have later early voting hours than in most of Dallas-Fort Worth. Early voting locations in Harris and Travis counties have been open this week from 7am to 7pm.
- In Bexar County, where San Antonio is located, early voting locations have been open from 8am to 6pm.
Context: State law requires counties to keep their main early voting sites open for at least nine hours on weekdays that aren't a holiday. The main sites have to be open for at least 12 hours every weekday and Saturday in the last week of early voting.
- While many counties stick to the legally mandated schedule for the first week, some choose to keep polling sites open for longer.
- "It's just a matter of, 'Would we need to have extended hours because we have issues with exceptionally long lines?'" Collin County election administrator Bruce Sherbet tells Axios. He says the county hasn't seen the need for extended hours for the first week.
Fun fact: Collin County typically gets a higher turnout on the last day of early voting than on Election Day, Sherbet says.
How to vote: Find polling locations and other voting information on your county's websites: Collin County, Dallas County, Denton County, Rockwall County and Tarrant County.
- 📬 Today is the last day to apply to vote by mail.
- Early voting continues through Nov. 1.
- Election Day is Nov. 5.