The line of people waiting to cast their ballots was long outside of The HUB in downtown Tyler as polls opened this morning Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020 at 8 a.m. in Tyler, Texas for early voting for the November presidential election. Early Voting Dates, Times, and Locations Tuesday — Friday October 13 — 16, 2020 8:00 a.m. — 5:00 p.m. Monday — Friday October 19 — 23, 2020 8:00 a.m. — 5:00 p.m. Saturday October 24, 2020 7:00 a.m. — 7:00 p.m. Sunday October 25, 2020 12:00 p.m. — 5:00 p.m. Monday — Friday October 26 — 30, 20207:00 a.m. — 7:00 p.m. Smith County HUB 304 E Ferguson St Tyler Heritage Building 1900 Bellwood Rd Tyler Chapel Hill Fire Department 13801 County Road 220 Tyler Noonday Community Center 16662 County Road 196 Tyler WorkHub 7922 S Broadway Ave Tyler Lindale Kinzie Community Center 912 Mt Sylvan St Lindale TASCA Activity Center 10495 County Road 2167 Whitehouse

Early voting in Smith County is breaking some previous election counts. About 31.8% of registered voters had already come to the polls as of Thursday evening.

According to the Smith County Elections Office, 46,554 people have voted out of 146,225 registered voters when the polls closed on Thursday. The voting total is over half of the total 2016 General Election with just roughly a week of early voting left.

In 2016, 135,567 Smith County residents were registered to vote and out of that, 85,230 votes were cast during both early voting and on Election Day. The turnout was at 62.87%.

For the 2018 General Election, 136,791 were registered to vote, and 77,734 people cast a ballot for a turnout of 56.83%.

Current voting totals have also surpassed this March Primary Election turnout, where 40,036 people voted.

Daily early voting numbers show that turnout is remaining steady, Smith County Elections Administrator Karen Nelson said. Voting has remained somewhere between 5,000 to 6,000 roughly every day from Oct. 13 to Wednesday, while 4,084 voted on Thursday.

Nelson noted that voters who have moved from another Texas county cannot vote at Smith County polling places. They have to come to the elections office, located at 304 E. Ferguson St. in Tyler, to cast a limited ballot – an option only available during the early voting period.

The limited ballot “is a ballot shared between both counties and it cancels their registration in the other county and gets them registered in Smith County,” she said.

This Friday is also the last day for the early voting clerk in Texas to receive an application for a mail-in ballot. All applications must be submitted by the close of business Friday, according to the secretary of state website.

Early voting continues through Oct. 30. People can come to the polls from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. Sunday and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Oct. 26 to 30.

Early voting locations include the R.B. Hubbard Center “The Hub” (304 E. Ferguson St. in Tyler), Heritage Building (1900 Bellwood Road in Tyler), Chapel Hill Fire Department (13801 County Road 220 in Tyler), Noonday Community Center (16662 County Road 196 in Tyler), WorkHub (7922 S. Broadway Ave. in Tyler), Lindale Kinzie Community Center (912 Mt. Sylvan St. in Lindale) and Tyler Area Senior Citizens Association Activity Center (10495 County Road 2167 in Whitehouse).

Polls will then reopen on Nov. 3 for Election Day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.