Early voting in North Texas appears to have surpassed levels logged during the last off-year election in 2021, according to county voting records.
Early voting began on October 23 this year and ended on November 3. This election cycle — which does not include presidential or midterm elections — includes 14 laws passed by state officials that require approval by voters since they are technically constitutional amendments, as reported by NBC 5 DFW.
During the last off-year election in 2021, tens of thousands of voters chose to cast their ballot early, but multiple counties in the Dallas-Fort Worth area have surpassed those numbers.
In Dallas County, the early voting period in 2021 brought in a total of 29,140 in-person early voters. That number has been dwarfed by the 59,652 early in-person votes cast in the 12 days of early voting this year.
Similarly, Collin County has surpassed the 21,724 voters who appeared during the 2021 early voting period, with 23,261 voters showing up to cast a ballot as of October 30. More up-to-date early voting figures were not immediately accessible on Collin County’s website.
In 2021, some 37,507 voters cast their ballots early in Tarrant County. Reports from Tarrant County indicate there have been 62,157 ballots cast by early voters in person over the 12 days of early voting.
The early voting numbers cited above for these counties do not include those who have submitted their ballots by mail.
Voters in Texas are required to have a valid form of photo identification in order to vote in person, which the Texas Secretary of State says can come in seven different forms.
The Texas Department of Public Safety has the authority to issue four forms of acceptable ID, including a Texas driver’s license, a Texas election identification certificate, a Texas personal identification card, and a Texas handgun license.
The federal government issues the remaining three forms of acceptable ID: a military identification card, a citizenship certificate, or a valid U.S. passport.
Election Day is November 7 and runs from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.