North Texas Shatters First Day Early Voting Records

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Voters are fired up — and that enthusiasm was borne out in Monday morning’s record-shattering early voting tallies across the state.

And that makes sense — 15,793,257 people are registered to vote in this November’s election, a record number. In the 2014 midterms, only 4.7 percent of the 14 million registered at the time voted.

The state’s biggest counties — including Dallas, saw larger first-day turnout than they did in the 2014 midterms, and in some places met or exceeded some presidential election totals.

And the lines began nearly immediately and continued throughout the day.

“It’s been like this all day,” said one poll worker at Marsh Lane Baptist Church, where the line snaked down a hall, into a reception area, around the walls of that room, and back up the hallway again. “But it’s gotten worse as the day has gone on.”

Marsh Lane Baptist Church

Despite plenty of poll workers, it was taking about 45 minutes to vote there, and readers reported similar waits in other areas of town as well. One woman in line at Marsh Lane said her daughter waited an hour to vote in Arlington.

“Our Redeemer Lutheran on Park Lane had a huge line out the door, down the steps, and trailing to the north parking lot at noon,” reported Shari North. “Huge turnout.”

Samuell Grand (photo courtesy Shelly Broyles Stenoien)

Shelley Broyles Stenoien said that Samuell Grand Recreation Center had about a 25-minute wait at 11 a.m. Others reported earlier that the line stretched well out the door. 

CandysDirt.com Executive Editor Joanna England said her wait at Lochwood Library was about 45 minutes.

Lochwood Library (Photo by Joanna England)

Bernadine Daniell said she voted at 10:30 a.m., at University Park United Methodist Church. “There was a 20-minute wait, but the line is getting a bit longer,” she said.

“The Rockwall Library is packed!” said Nathalie Chenault.

Fretz Park Library

Others reported 40-minute waits at Fretz Park Library, but only 15 to 20 minute waits in Valley Ranch and some spots in Plano.

At the end of the day, 57,080 people lined up to vote early Monday in Dallas County. For perspective, the last midterms in 2014 only brought out 13,036 the first day. In 2010, 14,820 voted in those midterms, and the 2016 presidential election saw 58,775 voting in the first day of early voting.

In Tarrant County, early voting Monday easily bested the first day of early voting for the 2014 midterms (which clocked in with 13,466 voters), hit 40,422 by the time the polls closed for the day. That’s shy of the 43,149 voters who turned out in 2016 for the presidential race, though.

In Collin County, more than 30,000 people voted, and in Denton County, 19,045 voted (compared to 9,582 in 2014).

Early voting continues through Nov. 2. Polls open and close at varying times depending on the county.

Have you voted yet? Let us know in the comments if you have, or when you do plan to, and if you’re out voting, tag us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter using the hashtag #CandysDirtVotes.

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Bethany Erickson lives in a 1961 Fox and Jacobs home with her husband, a second-grader, and Conrad Bain the dog. If she won the lottery, she'd by an E. Faye Jones home.
She's taken home a few awards for her writing, including a Gold award for Best Series at the 2018 National Association of Real Estate Editors journalism awards, a 2018 Hugh Aynesworth Award for Editorial Opinion from the Dallas Press Club, and a 2019 award from NAREE for a piece linking Medicaid expansion with housing insecurity.
She is a member of the Online News Association, the Education Writers Association, the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, and the Society of Professional Journalists.
She doesn't like lima beans or the word moist.

2 Comments

  1. Sheryl.dial on October 23, 2018 at 10:15 am

    Voted 10-22-18 at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church on Park Lane at Boedeker. At 5 pm I waited about 45 minutes. Once inside it was very efficient.

  2. John Sieber on October 23, 2018 at 12:15 pm

    I had no wait today 11:00AM Tuesday 11/23 at Valley View Library-Irving, when I left the line was only about 7 deep.

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