Voters go to The HUB to cast their ballots during the start of early voting in October 2022 ahead of Election Day.

The early voting period for the November gubernatorial election has been slower than expected, said an elections official.

By Friday around 11 a.m. a total of 44,700 people had cast their ballots during early voting. Compared to the early voting turnout of around 55,500 in the November 2018 election, this is about 6,000 people less, said Smith County Elections Administrator Michelle Allcon.

In Smith County there are just over 154,000 registered voters. With all those who have voted so far, it only equates to about 30% of those registered, she said.

The polls close for early voting at 7 p.m. tonight (Nov. 4), so Allcon said she doubts this voter difference will be made up by that time, especially with storms expected.

Even though turnout could have been higher, people have still been steadily coming in each day of early voting, she said. The first three days were busy before the numbers dropped off a bit.

“It’s like everybody came out those first three days and then from then it’s been a steady flow of people, but not a rush,” Allcon said.

While early voting turnout has been “a little bit disappointing,” Allcon said she hopes to see more people turn out on Election Day.

With the amount of registered voters in Smith County that have yet to cast their ballots, Allcon said there is a possibility for lines to form on Election Day at the polling locations. This could be due to people waiting to cast their ballots on Election Day rather than during early voting, she added.

“The main premise I’d like to get across is If they’re coming out on Election Day, be prepared that you might actually have to wait in line for a while because we have not gotten a high early voting turnout,” she said.

In terms of mail-in ballots, Allcon said the elections office has gotten back 2,321 ballots of the close to 3,000 that were sent out. That is a “pretty big chunk” of those already returned.

Overall elections have been running smoothly so far, Allcon said. Once early voting concludes, the elections office is ready for Election Day .

“We don’t know if it’s going to be a low turnout like early voting has been or everybody’s waiting to come out until Election Day, so we’re preparing on both fronts,” she said.

Registered voters only need to bring their ID’s with them to be able to cast their ballots, she said. Those who are not physically able to enter polling locations can vote curbside until the conclusion of early voting or at any of the 35 Election Day locations.

Early voting will end tonight at 7 p.m. There are six locations people can vote at including:

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

Election Day is Nov. 8 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Polling locations will include:

Tyler Locations

• Bell Elementary, 1409 E. Hankerson St in Tyler
• Clarkston Elementary, 2915 Williamsburg Dr. in Tyler
• First Christian Church: Christian Life Center, 4202 S Broadway Ave in Tyler
• Glass Recreation Center, 501 W. 32nd St. in Tyler
• Heritage Building, 1900 Bellwood Rd. in Tyler
• The HUB, 304 E. Ferguson St. in Tyler
• Jones-Boshears Elementary School, 3450 Chandler Hwy in Tyler
• Lanes Chapel UMC: Family Center, 8720 Old Jacksonville Hwy in Tyler
• Old Tyler Airport, 150 Airport Dr. in Tyler

Shiloh Road Church of Christ, 1801 Shiloh Rd. in Tyler

• Smith County Juvenile Svcs, 2630 Morningside Dr. in Tyler
• St. Louis Baptist Church, 4000 Frankston Hwy. in Tyler
• T J Austin Elementary, 1105 W. Franklin St. in Tyler
• Three Lakes Middle, 2445 Three Lakes Pkwy. in Tyler
• Tyler Senior Center, 1915 Garden Valley Rd. in Tyler

Southwestern Smith County Locations

• Bethel Bible Church, 17121 Hwy 69 S in Tyler
• Bullard Southern Baptist Church, 716 N. Houston St. in Bullard
• First Baptist Gresham, 16844 CR 165 in Tyler
• Flint Baptist Church, 11131 FM 2868 W in Flint
• Noonday Community Center, 16662 CR 196 in Tyler

Southeastern Smith County Locations

• Arp First Baptist Church, 304 W. Front St. in Arp
• Cameron J Jarvis Library, 102 S. Georgia St. in Troup
• Chapel Hill Fire Department, 13801 CR 220 in Tyler
• Hill Creek Baptist Church, 14749 Hwy 110 S in Whitehouse
• Mt. Carmel Baptist Church, 10519 FM 344 E in Whitehouse
• Whitehouse UMC, 405 W. Main St. in Whitehouse

Northwestern Smith County Locations

• Dover Baptist Church, 21166 FM 1995 in Tyler
• Hideaway Members Svcs Building, 101 Hide-A-Way Ln in Hideaway
• Lindale Masonic Lodge, 200 W. Margaret St. in Lindale
• New Harmony Baptist Church, 10251 FM 724 in Tyler

Northeastern Smith County Locations

• Crossbrand Cowboy Church, 11915 FM 2015 in Tyler
• Red Springs Fire Department, 16759 FM 14 in Tyler
• St. Violet Baptist Church, 14129 FM 2767 in Tyler
• Starrville Church of the Living God, 18396 Hwy 271 in Winona
• Victor Kay Gymnasium, 605 Wildcat Dr. in Winona

For more information about the elections and to see sample ballots visit https://www.smith-county.com/home and click the elections banner at the top of the page.