Voters walk into the Noonday Community Center on Monday to cast their ballots. Early voting continues through Nov. 4, and Election Day is Nov. 8.

Early voting for the November general election began Monday and is off to a strong start in Smith County, an elections official said.

As of just 1 p.m. Monday, 3,300 voters had cast their ballots in person, said Smith County Elections Administrator Michelle Allcon.

“It’s a very good turnout so far for today,” Allcon said. “For the first day of early voting, this is wonderful.”

At the county’s main voting location, the HUB at 304 E. Ferguson St. in downtown Tyler, people began lining up outside the doors to vote at 6:30 a.m., she said. The doors did not officially open until 8 a.m.

In Smith County, voters will cast a vote for who they think should be Texas governor and other state races, but there are also various races with local impact, including the race between Smith County Judge Nathaniel Moran and Democratic challenger Jrmar Jefferson to replace Rep. Louie Gohmert in Congress, a multimillion-dollar bond proposal to fund a new courthouse and more.

Resident Darrell Jackson cast his ballot Monday and said voting is something he anticipates doing.

“I’m from an earlier generation … and we never questioned the right to vote,” Jackson said.

Participating in elections is a way to choose candidates who align with your beliefs. Jackson compared not voting to essentially sitting back and saying someone else can take care of it.

Not voting means “we’re giving up our right to the type of government that we have,” Jackson said.

Joe Runnels, who also voted Monday, said he wants to be part of “keeping Texas red.”

He said he believes Texas needs to stay Republican or “the country and Texas is going to be a bad place to be.”

Runnels agreed that voting is a way you make your voice heard and play a part in getting America and the state to where you think it should be.

Allcon said this is her first general election working as the elections administrator in Smith County. As such, she was not sure what to expect but made sure to plan for a big turnout.

This is the largest turnout for elections yet this year, she said. While this is to be expected for a general election in comparison to primary or city and school elections, Allcon said she is still pleased so far.

Typically, things will calm down a bit after the first day of early voting and there will be a gradual slope in the amount of people casting their ballots, Allcon said. She expects that even if turnout does slow down, it will pick up again the last couple of days of early voting.

Along with in-person ballots, Allcon said of the close to 3,000 mail-in ballots the county sent out, over 1,000 have been returned.

There are still some issues with people not filling out everything properly on the new mail-in ballots, but it is “significantly less” than the first few elections this year, she said. Voters are learning what needs to be done on these ballots and the county is continuing to remind them.

During this round of voting, Allcon said the elections office included a checkoff list on bright yellow paper, reminding voters to fill out required fields on the mail-in ballots such as their identification number and signature.

Allcon urges every registered voter to get out and make their voice heard.

“It’s extremely important for every voter to get out and vote because every election will impact your life, whether it has to do with your taxes, or who is making decisions based on the laws and the restrictions and the different things within the city you can do,” she said. “All of that is decided essentially during an election because those are the people you are hiring, electing, to run your government.”

Early voting will end on Nov. 4. Dates and times are:

• Monday, Oct. 24 through Friday, Oct. 28 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Saturday, Oct. 29 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
• Sunday, Oct. 30 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Monday, Oct 31 through Friday, Nov. 4 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

There are six different locations to vote at during early voting including:

• Heritage Building, 1900 Bellwood Rd. in Tyler
• Lindale Masonic Lodge, 200 W. Margaret St. in Lindale
• The HUB, 304 E. Ferguson St. in Tyler
• Noonday Community Center, 16662 CR 196 in Tyler
• Whitehouse United Methodist Church, 405 W. Main St. in Whitehouse
• Winona Community Center, 520 Dallas St. in Winona

Election Day is Nov. 8 and there will be 35 voting locations.

For more information about elections, visit www.smith-county.com or www.tylerpaper.com and click the banners at the top of each page.

For in-depth stories on races with local impact and to see exactly what’s on your ballot in Smith County, visit www.tylerpaper.com/elections.