10 p.m. upgrade: More Travis County citizens have cast tallies on Tuesday compared to the very first day of early ballot for the 2016 general election, according to the Travis County Clerks workplace.
The clerks workplace reported Tuesday evening that 35,873 individuals in the county cast their tallies on the first day of early voting this year– more than 2,200 voters than what was reported on the first day of early ballot in 2016.
Furthermore, the county clerks workplace reported that it has actually gotten 22,577 mail-in tallies since Tuesday. The county reported that it had actually received 2,294 mail-in tallies by the end of the first day of early ballot in 2016.
The 3 early voting areas with the largest reported variety of voters on Tuesday were the Austin Central Library with 1,434 voters, the Ben Hur Shrine Center with 1,365 citizens, and Austin Oaks Church with 1,298 citizens, according to the county clerks workplace.
8:15 p.m. update: More than an hour after lines for early ballot were cut off on Tuesday, numerous voting areas revealed seven places with longer than 51-minute wait times, according to the Travis County clerks online wait time map.
The seven places were: Austin Oaks Church, Bee Cave City Hall, Parque Zaragoza Recreation Center, Pflugerville ISD Rock Gym, Round Rock ISD Hartfield Performing Arts Center, Shady Hollow Village Shopping Center, and Westlake United Methodist.
7 other locations, including the Dittmar Recreation Center which reported voting machine breakdowns Tuesday morning, had wait times of 21 minutes or more according to the county clerks office.
Travis County has an overall of 37 early voting places, according to the clerks workplace.
A spokeswoman from the Travis County clerks office told the American-Statesman that they had actually not gotten any reports of law enforcement being called to respond to events associated with ballot areas.
6:15 p.m. upgrade: Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir stated 32,000 individuals had actually voted as of 6 p.m. on Tuesday.
Since 6 PM 32,000 people have actually enacted Travis County. One hour left to vote today! , if youre in line by 7 PM you are able to vote.
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— Travis County Clerk (@TravisCoClerk) October 13, 2020
3:45 p.m. upgrade: By 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, a minimum of 24,000 individuals had voted in Travis County, according to Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir.
Tuesdays mid-afternoon update surpasses the 2016 turnout. On the very first day of early voting in the 2016 basic election, 24,000 people had actually voted in Travis County by 4 p.m.
Officials previously reported record-breaking voter registration numbers in Travis and Bastrop Counties.
Midday update: As of noon, 14,000 individuals voted in Travis County, Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir stated.
She said the very first day of early ballot tends to be the busiest, but expects lines and wait times to thin out over the next few days.
” This is quite regular behavior and I believe by day two or 3 you will find that the lines are less daunting,” DeBeauvoir stated. “There is such high enthusiasm out there. Voters remain in a good state of mind and are taking care of each other by wearing masks and social distancing. Everybody is just having fun. So get out and vote.”
Citizens at Dittmar Recreation Center in South Austin reported voting maker malfunctions Tuesday morning that triggered longer wait times than uncommon.
DeBeauvoir said multiple technicians are deployed throughout the county to assist resolve such problems, and to guarantee machines are up and running. The malfunction at Dittmar Recreation Center has actually been dealt with, she stated.
” When this happens people, do not stop voting,” she stated. “Voters can drop their ballot in the emergency situation ballot box, which will still be tallied … technical concerns may happen at any point, and when they do happen its about when and how quickly can we get it solved.”
11:15 a.m. upgrade: As lines twisted around voting areas in Travis County Tuesday morning, Travis County Tax Assessor-Collector Bruce Elfant reported that nearly all qualified citizens in Travis County were registered to vote this year.
Of the countys more than 850,000 eligible citizens, a record 97% of them are registered to enact the Nov. 3 basic election, Elfant said.
To our civic army of volunteers who registered citizens, thank you. To my citizen registration staff, thank you.”
He credited the turnout to the countys contactless citizen registration program, Text2Register, which was utilized by more than 4,700 county citizens.
He likewise credited the University of Texas Athletics Department for public service statements.
Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir stated the county has gotten 78,000 ask for mail-in ballots. Of those, 75,000 were sent to voter mailboxes and 14,400 have been returned, she said.
Mail-in tallies will not be tallied until 7 a.m. on Election Day, she stated.
10:15 a.m. upgrade: During the first 3 hours of early ballot on Tuesday, more than 6,000 Travis County citizens cast in-person ballots, said Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir.
Voters lined up at some of the countys 37 voting places overnight to be able to vote right as surveys opened, DeBeauvoir stated.
The large citizen turnout has led to long lines and lengthy wait times. Many wait times at voting places were 20 minutes or more as of 9:50 a.m., according to the Travis County Clerk site.
Citizens at Ben Hur Shrine Center reported a three-hour wait time and another in Pflugerville stated she was in line for a number of hours Tuesday morning.
At Shady Hollow Village Shopping Center in South Austin, citizens were cheered on by those still waiting in line. Like marathon finishers, voters were applauded with shouts of “You did it!” or “It was well worth it!” When they came out of the ballot.
A pregnant female who had waited in line for 3 hours was told she had a story to tell her infant.
DeBeauvoir said she knows of dangers on social networks about people surpassing the surveys.
” Im pretty sure this is the exact same threat weve heard before and it never came to fruition. I do not believe it will this time either,” she said.
Earlier: Minutes after polls opened for early ballot in Travis County, citizens reported long lines and wait times.
Voting booths opened at 7 a.m. and by 7:15 a.m., at least 11 of them had wait times of 20 minutes or more, according to the Travis County Clerks wait time map. Three more ballot areas had a wait of 10 to 20 minutes.
Plenty of voting areas still had brief waits at 7:15 a.m., including Austin Central Library, Austin Recreation Center and Dittmar Recreation Center.
Travis County early voting: Heres where you can cast your ballot
The wait time map can be discovered online: https://countyclerk.traviscountytx.gov/elections/current-election.html.
The ballot line at Shady Hollow Village Shopping Center, at the crossway of Brodie Lane and Slaughter Lane, snaked from the new ballot place near JuiceLand on the north end of the shopping center to the Whataburger on the far south end.
The line continues to grow, voters stated. Voters had on face masks and 2 females were losing consciousness water and treats to those in line.
Temperatures were a cool 58 degrees at 7:25 a.m., according to the National Weather Service.
Breaking News Editor Roberto Villalpando added to this report.
As of 6 PM 32,000 individuals have actually voted in Travis County. Voters are in a good mood and are taking care of each other by wearing masks and social distancing. To our civic army of volunteers who registered citizens, thank you. To my citizen registration personnel, thank you.”
At Shady Hollow Village Shopping Center in South Austin, voters were cheered on by those still waiting in line.
