Voters in the battleground state of Texas have already surpassed the state’s 2016 total voting numbers with more than 9 million people voting early, according to CNN. That number is 53 percent of all registered voters compared to 59 percent in 2016. With one last day of early voting statewide today, the numbers are expected to increase.
There were a total of 8.96 million ballots cast in the presidential election four years ago, according to the Texas secretary of state’s website. Around 433,000 people voted in person yesterday. A record 47.6 percent voted in person while 5.6 percent voted by mail, according to the Texas Tribune.
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and President Donald Trump are in a tight race in the state. A Democratic candidate has not won Texas since 1976. Trump won Texas four years ago by 10 percentage points. This year, Texas has also seen a record number of election-related lawsuits for the first time in recent history.
“I’ve gone through many elections, and I don’t recall ever having lawsuits like these,” Douglas Ray, a special assistant to the Harris County attorney’s office, said, according to Bloomberg. “I certainly haven’t had to deal with the attorney general coming down on us repeatedly.”
Voters who are out of the county during early voting or on Election Day are eligible for mail-in voting. Some voting locations in Houston stayed open all night last night to accommodate those who were unable to take time off from work to vote.
