Houston came out to vote!
Yesterday, October 13, was the first day of early voting in Texas and, evidently, Houston got the memo after crushing the previous first-day early-voting record by 28,000 voters!
After only 6 hours and 40 minutes after polls opened for early voting in Harris County yesterday, Houstonians matched their previous record of early voting.
“We’ve had a record first day of Early Voting in Harris County,” the Harris County Clerk’s Office wrote in a Twitter post at 1:40 pm. “So far over 68,000 votes have been cast, beating the 2016 record.”
As the day went on, the number of votes continued to skyrocket. As of 4:30 pm, over 100,000 votes had been cast in Harris County. Meanwhile, other official municipal accounts continued to update their Twitter feed with voting information and resources, advertising that MetroLift could request safe transportation to the polls, particularly for seniors and those with disabilities. MetroLift users could opt for curbside or drive-thru voting without leaving the bus.
Early Voting starts Tuesday, Oct. 13, at 7 a.m. at 122 locations. Harris County voters can vote at ANY location. See locations and their wait times at https://t.co/s3HBl2J9bW. pic.twitter.com/PJBsp5RkUW
— Harris County Clerk (@HarrisVotes) October 12, 2020
On Saturday, October 17 and 24, as well as Monday through Thursday October 26 – 29, the METRO is offering free rides to polling stations.
Houston presently has 9 drive-thru polling centers in Harris County open through Early Voting (October 13 – October 30) and on Election Day (November 3) at the following: NRG Arena Blue Lot 16, Toyota Center Parking Garage, Fallbrook Church, Kingdom Buildings Center, Houston Food Bank, HCC West Loop, HCC Alief Bissonnet, Humble Civic Center, and Resurrection MCC.
By the time the polls shut down yesterday evening, over 128,000 votes had been cast in Harris County. Previously, the Early Voting record had been set in 2016 with around 68,000 votes.
Check out the drive-thru voting setup @HarrisVotes got working at HCC West Loop! @HCCWestLoopSL has about 20 tents so people can #earlyvote AND stay safe from #Covid19. #abc13 https://t.co/y5N4E6q5Bn pic.twitter.com/ikmTf12h9Q
— Miya Shay (@ABC13Miya) October 13, 2020
From now until October 26, polling stations will be open from 7 am – 7 pm except for Sundays of which will be open from noon – 7 pm. From October 27 – October 29, polling centers will be open from 7 am – 10 pm. On Thursday, October 29, eight polling stations will be open for 24 hours. On Friday, October 30 and on Election Day, the centers will be open from 7 am – 7 pm.