Tarrant County residents set a daily early voting record Friday with 53,603 ballots cast, and some sites stayed open late to accommodate the long lines, election officials said.
Four years ago, 53,068 ballots were cast on the last day of early voting, records show.By the time the polls closed -- some stayed open until about 9 p.m. -- 387,338 Tarrant County residents had cast early votes in person and 31,469 mailed ballots had been received, election records show.The total was short of the historic number four years ago."It's still a healthy turnout," said Steve Raborn, Tarrant County elections administrator. "And we don't know yet what to expect on Election Day. We may have a lot of voters who waited to vote then."The next time Texans can vote is Election Day -- Tuesday -- when polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.A last-minute rush of early voters Friday evening created long lines at several polling sites. The Elzie Odom Athletic Center in Arlington and the Bedford Public Library stayed open latest to let everyone in line vote.Statewide, more than 30 percent of Texas voters have already cast their ballots."The early voting by many is because of convenience but also motivation as some have been waiting to vote again since 2008," said Allan Saxe, a political science professor at the University of Texas at Arlington."The nation is intensely divided, and politics seems to be driving everything."Four years ago, 66 percent of Tarrant County's registered voters went to the polls for the presidential race, most casting their ballots early.That year, 431,799 locals voted early in person, 29,798 mailed ballots and 173,671 showed up in person on Election Day, records show.Statewide, more than 2.7 million voters, or 31.88 percent, had cast ballots in the 15 most-populated counties through Thursday, according to the most recent data provided by the Texas secretary of state's office.That compares with 2.9 million ballots, or 34.50 percent, cast during the same period four years ago, the last presidential election.At the top of this year's ballot is the race between President Barack Obama and GOP nominee Mitt Romney.Libertarian Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein are also running for president.Another hot Texas race is the one to replace Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.The candidates are Republican Ted Cruz, Democrat Paul Sadler, Libertarian John Jay Myers and Green Party candidate David B. Collins.For state office, one of the most-watched races is for state Senate District 10 between Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, and state Rep. Mark Shelton, R-Fort Worth.There are also a number of congressional and legislative races, statewide races, judicial races, State Board of Education races and local races ranging from sheriff to county commissioner.Raborn cautioned that voters should confirm their polling places before setting out Tuesday."Don't assume it's the same place as four years ago or even the primary earlier this year," he said. "Go to the website and look it up or call the elections office."A lot of polling sites have changed."The website is www.tarrantcounty.com/elections.The phone number is 817-831-8683.Anna M. Tinsley, 817-390-7610Twitter: @annatinsley
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