Early voting turnout is up in Tarrant County

Driven by hotly contested races up and down the Nov. 4 ballot, more people cast early votes this year than during the last midterm election four years ago.

By the time the polls closed Friday night, 186,651 voters cast ballots in person — more than the 155,348 who voted early in 2010, Tarrant County election records show.

“I suspect the main driving force is the governor’s race,” said Frank Phillips, Tarrant County’s election administrator. “But we also have some local propositions.”

Near the top of Tuesday’s ballot is the hotly contested gubernatorial race to replace longtime Republican Gov. Rick Perry.

The race is between Republican gubernatorial nominee and Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, Democratic nominee and state Sen. Wendy Davis of Fort Worth, Libertarian Kathie Glass and Green Party candidate Brandon Parmer.

Several cities and school districts in Tarrant County have propositions on the ballot ranging from generating school funding to money for roads and an arena.

The Southwest Sub-Courthouse, South Service Center and Keller Town Hall drew the most early voters.

Local voters began turning out at the end of the week in such large numbers that they exceeded the 2010 in-person voting total by Thursday, Phillips said.

And on Friday, there was a last-minute surge of early voters — 30,486 — just as there was four years ago, when nearly 30,000 local voters headed to the polls, officials said.

Now that early voting is over, residents have one more chance — between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Tuesday — to show up at the polls.

Election observers

On Election Day, four assistant U.S. attorneys will be observing elections in five Texas cities —Fort Worth, Dallas, Abilene, Lubbock and Amarillo — to handle any complaints about election fraud and voting rights abuses.

“Every citizen must be able to vote without interference or discrimination and to have that vote counted without it being stolen because of fraud,” U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldana said in a statement. “The Department of Justice is committed to protecting the integrity of the election process.”

Saldana noted that federal law prevents election crimes ranging from intimidating or bribing voters to stuffing ballot boxes. She said voters should be able to vote without intimidation or harassment.

“Ensuring free and fair elections depends in large part on the cooperation of the American electorate,” she said. “It is imperative that those who have specific information about discrimination or election fraud make that information available immediately to my Office, the FBI, or the Civil Rights Division, of the Department of Justice.“

On the ballot

Among the posts up for grabs in this election is the No. 2 job in the state — lieutenant governor.

Those vying for that job: Republican state Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, Libertarian Robert D. Butler and Green Party candidate Chandrakantha Courtney.

Other statewide jobs near the top of the ballot include those for attorney general and state comptroller, land commissioner, agriculture commissioner and railroad commissioner.

Also on the ballot are local congressional seats, Texas House and Senate seats and the State Board of Education, as well as judicial posts up and down the ballot and local races ranging from county commissioner to justice of the peace.

In addition to all the races on the ballot, there are several issues, depending on where voters live. All Texans will choose whether to support a proposal regarding transportation funding.

Local voters will weigh in on issues such as a multipurpose arena in Fort Worth, school improvements in Aledo, Birdville and Keller, streets in Arlington and elected officials in cities from Benbrook to Keller.

Voters need to bring with them a photo ID — such as a driver’s license, a state-issued personal ID card, concealed handgun license, military card and citizenship certificate with photo or a passport. Any license that’s expired must not be expired for more than 60 days.

This story was originally published October 31, 2014 at 8:24 PM with the headline "Early voting turnout is up in Tarrant County."