Voter enthusiasm is high across North Texas. NBC 5’s Katy Blakey reports, after seeing turnout on the first day, election officials in Ellis County decided to open four new polling sites to meet demand.
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Ellis County is adding four early voting locations to handle an increase in voters and allow more people to vote closer to home.
The county kicked off early voting Monday with five locations: Waxahachie, Ennis, Midlothian, Palmer, and Red Oak. After seeing the turnout on Monday, Day 1 of early voting, the Ellis County Elections Department announced that four more locations would be added during the second week of early voting.
Ellis County Elections Administrator Jana Onyon said they’ve had no issues, just record numbers of voters.
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“We were expecting it because there’s been a lot of people coming in to register to vote and letting us know this is their first time to register to vote,” Onyon said.
Starting Monday, Oct. 28, and running through Friday, Nov. 1, voters can cast ballots at the Knights of Columbus on Broadhead Road in Waxahachie.
On Thursday, Oct. 31, and Friday, Nov. 1, the final two days of early voting, the county elections department will also open locations at the Ferris Public Library on 10th Street, the Italy Community Center on Harpold Street, and the Ovilla City Hall on S. Cockrell Hill Road.
All four new locations will be open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.
ELLIS COUNTY ADDS 27,000 MORE VOTERS SINCE LAST PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIN
Like many counties across Texas, Ellis County has seen record crowds for the first two days of early voting. The county reported that 9,171 of the 147,616 registered voters voted on Day 1 of early voting, and another 8,550 voted on Day 2.
Ellis County Elections said that when the 954 mail-in ballots they've received are added to the total, nearly 19,000 people have voted in the first two days of early voting. That's 12.65% of the county's registered voters.
Day 3 of in-person voting saw lines outside Waxahachie’s main voting center.
“I’m just tired of this election, period,” said early voter Kathy McInnis.
Tents provided welcome shade on the unusually warm October day. Still, voters didn’t have to wait long.
“It was awesome,” said early voter Christine Ellis. “They’re friendly, fast and coordinated.”
The number of eligible voters in Ellis County has nearly doubled since 2008, when 85,514 registered voters lived there. Onyon told NBC 5 that in the last four years, Ellis County has added nearly 27,000 more registered voters. The chart below shows how the number of registered voters in Ellis County has changed.
