Dallas, Tarrant counties top 1 million voters as early voting wraps up

Dallas County reported more than 600,000 ballots have been cast as early voting wraps up on Friday. Tarrant County showed another 500,000 plus votes.

Polls closed at 9 p.m. in Dallas County and 7 p.m. in Tarrant County. Last week, Dallas County said it was extending its hours for early voting on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday due to the high turnout.

“It’s pretty amazing to see what you see in the news as far as the record numbers. It’s pretty impressive. It’s a good thing to see where people are taking politics seriously this time around," said Donny Brown.

Brown spent about an hour Friday night waiting to cast his vote at Irving's Valley Ranch Library.

Many people said they don't like to wait until Election Day to vote.

“Not delaying it. We don’t want to put it off last minute," said Michael Zimmerman, who voted in Arlington with his parents.

They also plan to come back to make sure another family member, a college student, can get her vote in early.

“Our daughter’s coming in from Arkansas this evening, hopefully to get in line by seven," said Angela Zimmerman.

Jeremy Allcorn was on babysitting duty so his friend could cast her ballot early.

“The plan was because she’s got kids and she needs somebody to help watch the kids while she’s voting ... I said, ‘Well, we’ll go together,’” Allcorn said. “It’s much easier to vote early than it is to vote on Election Day.”

Ericka Calderon wanted her son to have a smooth experience.

“It’s his first time voting, so I wanted to be a part of his first moment together, and I thought that it would be best for us to do it as a family," she said.

She said she explained the process to her son, Micah, before coming out.

“Well, I didn’t know what to expect, to be honest. So, seeing everything, I guess, it was just, first time," Micah said.

Calderon said her mom always reminded her to vote and now, she's doing the same for her son.

“I know that it’s very important for us to show our children the importance of their voice being heard," she said.

She said voting early is always a calmer experience, but her son was still full of excitement inside their polling location.

“They’re praising the first-time voters as they come in. They cheer them on, and they encourage them," Calderon said.

A spokesperson for Tarrant County said although early voting turnout has been high, as expected for a presidential election, they still expect Election Day to be busy. They remind voters to check the online map for wait times to find the closest and quickest polling location.

Elections officials also remind voters that a new location will open up on Tuesday: AT&T Stadium.

Elections Administrator Clint Ludwig said that with over 30 clerks and over 60 voting machines, the stadium would be the biggest voting center in the county.

"It is a location that was designed to have large crowds and manage the flow of high volumes of people, and we are going to take advantage of that," he said in an email to NBC 5.