TYLER COUNTY – The early voting period for the coming Nov. 5 General Election begins on Monday, Oct. 21 and runs until Friday, Nov. 5.
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As 2024 is a hotly contested presidential election year, with Democratic nominee, and current Vice President Kamala Harris, with running mate Tim Walz, challenging former president and GOP nominee Donald Trump and his VP hopeful J.D. Vance, for the White House, another hot race in Texas is the U.S Senate race putting incumbent Republican Ted Cruz up against Democratic challenger Colin Allred.
In 2020, during the last presidential election cycle, more than 9.7 million Texans took advantage of the early voting period, which represented 57% of the state’s registered voters at the time.
According to recent figures from the Secretary of State, the voter rolls, statewide, hit more than 18 million for the first time in history, early this month, ahead of the election.
The trend mirrors a nationwide spike in new voter registrations, especially in some of the key battleground states. According to reports, North Carolina added nearly a half million more voters to the rolls this year, compared to 2020. In the last election, Trump carried the Tar Heel State by about 74,000 votes.
Michigan is another state, where the number of new voters has increased by more than 350,000 since 2020. Joe Biden won that battleground state in 2020 with about 150,000 votes.
In 2020, the ticket of Trump and Mike Pence carried Texas by 52.06% over the Biden-Harris ticket, which received 46.48% of the Texas vote. In raw vote tallies, that amounted to 5.8 million for Trump versus Biden’s 5.2 million.
In Tyler County, Trump carried the county with 85% of the county’s 9.547 votes cast in the election. The statewide percentage of 66% that year, according to SOS reports, was the best turnout since 1992 when incumbent George H.W. Bush and third-party challenger Ross Perot both running against Democrat Bill Clinton drew immense interest, and 72% of the electorate.
The early voting location for Tyler Countians is the Tyler County Nutrition Center, located at 201 Veterans Way, in Woodville, behind McClure’s Furniture. The polls are open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Monday through Friday (Oct. 21-25) and from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Oct. 26 (Saturday). On Sunday, Oct. 27 the polls open at 2 p.m. and close at 8 p.m., and from Monday, Oct. 28 through Friday, Nov. 1, the hours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The office of the Tyler County Clerk, Donece Gregory, is advising anyone who wishes to take advantage of the early voting period to go ahead and vote early, if possible, for the lines for the General Election, on Nov. 5, will likely be long.
Several issues have polled as important factors effecting voters’ choices in this coming election, such as the issue of school vouchers as well as security of the southern border and abortion restrictions for Texans.
The race between Allred and Cruz is within the margin of error, and currently the Senate holds a Democratic majority by one seat.
In the presidential race, Harris is banking on enthusiasm and a fundraising advantage, having raised a staggering $1 billion in contributions since replacing Biden in July. Many nationwide polls show the two neck-and-neck.
Reports indicate that Trump has raised $309.2 million between Jan. 2023 and August 31 of this year. Federal Election Commissions (FEC) filings indicate that super PACs have spent $167 million on Harris since July, while Trump-supporting super PACs have spent $55.2 million on the former president in the same period of time.
What do I need to bring to the polls?
You will be asked to show photo ID to vote in Texas.
Acceptable forms include:
Forms must be current or expired less than four years. For voters aged 70 or older, the acceptable form of photo identification may be expired for any length of time if the identification is otherwise valid. For voters aged 18-69, the acceptable form of photo identification may be expired no more than four years before being presented for voter qualification at the polling place.
Voters without ID:
If you don't have ID and cannot obtain one due to a reasonable impediment, you'll need to sign a sworn statement that there is a reason why you don't have any of the accepted IDs, and present one of the following:
If you meet these requirements and are eligible to vote, you may vote in the election.
If you don't have ID and do not have a reasonable impediment to obtaining one or did not bring ID to the polling place, you may cast a provisional ballot. In order to have the provisional ballot counted, you will be required to visit the voter registrar's office within six (6) calendar days of the date of the election to either present one of the forms of photo ID or submit a temporary affidavit, or, if applicable, qualify for the disability exemption, in the presence of the county voter registrar while attesting to the fact that you do not have any of the required photo IDs.
