Long lines greet Dallas County voters on the first day of early voting

Lines were already out the door at many polling places in Dallas County Tuesday morning — the first day of early voting in Texas.

At the American Airlines Center, which is serving as a voting supercenter for this year’s election, more than 100 people had turned out to vote by 7:30 a.m., a reporter with KERA News said.

Early voting sites in Dallas County opened at 7 a.m. Tuesday. There are 61 early voting locations in the county.

“Be safe and go vote,” Gov. Greg Abbott said in an appearance on WBAP radio shortly after early voting commenced Tuesday morning.

He said the state is doing all it can to get local officials to take every precaution to ensure the safety of voters and safeguard them from COVID-19.

Lines were also out the door at Irving City Hall just after 7:30 a.m., one voter reported.

At the Oak Lawn Branch Library, lines stretched around the building and down several blocks from the library by 8:30 a.m.

As of Monday evening, about 1.8 million more Texans were registered to vote than were registered in the last presidential election in 2016. That number could continue to grow as the secretary of state’s office finalizes the numbers after the Oct. 5 deadline to register to vote.

Gov. Greg Abbott moved up the start of early voting six days. It began Tuesday instead of Oct. 19

Voters can cast their ballots until Oct. 30 for early voting ahead of the Nov. 3 election at any polling place in the county in which they are registered to vote. A full list of early voting locations can be found at dallascountyvotes.org.