Dallas County just broke its all-time early voting record

Nearly 605,000 Dallas County residents have voted since Oct. 13, breaking the county’s early voting record set four years ago.

Voting is up statewide, with more than 1 million voters casting their ballots in Harris County, which includes much of Houston, and droves of new voters turning out in Collin and Denton counties in North Texas.

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo celebrated the shattering of the 2016 record just after midday Friday, tweeting, “We’ve officially broken total early vote turnout records today. Keep making history, y’all.”

Dallas County broke its early voting record of 549,643 votes in part due to a big increase in mail ballots. In 2016, 37,470 people voted by mail before the end of early voting, according to state data. As of Friday, more than 60,000 residents had returned their mail ballots.

Through Sunday, the county recorded 604,925 votes with the Secretary of State.

Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said he was excited that voters were taking advantage of early voting.

“We’re well on our way for a record turnout, and with equal importance, we’re getting most of the vote in early, which ensures a quicker and safer experience than long lines on Election Day," he said.

The 604,925 votes are only 43.26% of Dallas County’s 1.4 million registered voters. But it’s nearly 79% of the 770,590 who turned out to vote in 2016.

Texas' 2020 election has been defined by a global health crisis, which has forced new safety rules at the polls and a bevy of lawsuits over who is eligible to vote from their homes. Courts are still churning through cases, and more lawsuits are expected.

Voting mostly has gone smoothly, with few reports of broken equipment or harassment. However, late Friday KXAS-TV (NBC5) reported at least two Dallas County residents were told they could not vote because someone had already done so in their name. County officials and its election equipment vendor said they had identified the problem and were fixing it.

Early voting this year started a week earlier under an executive order by Gov. Greg Abbott. He opted to extend early voting to allow Texans to physically distance over space — and time — at the polls.

Political observers have long forecast a high turnout this year. President Donald Trump has electrified Republicans and Democrats alike.

Texas does not register voters by a political party. However, voters can be loosely sorted based on which primaries they vote in. Voters who have participated in recent Democratic primaries are turning out at a higher rate in the state’s most populous counties, according to an analysis by Derek Ryan, a Republican political consultant based in Austin.

“With numbers like these, Dallas County will help tip Texas blue," said Dallas County Democratic chairwoman Carol Donovan. “Already, voter turnout in Texas is the highest of all 50 states. Volunteers are coming out of the woodwork. Unlike 2016, Democrats are united and, as Joe Biden says, ‘We’re fighting for the soul of our nation.'”

Other states may have a higher turnout rate. But Texas currently leads the states in the raw number reported at more than 7 million.

Experts tracking the Texas turnout find that early voting is especially high among young voters between ages 18 and 29. New data released by the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts University indicates that the Texas turnout so far in that age group is the highest in the nation.

Texas has not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since Jimmy Carter in 1976. State polls suggest it’s a tight race between Trump and Biden, much narrower than any Republican would hope for in a reliably conservative state with 38 electoral votes. Democrats here also hope to take a U.S. Senate seat and flip multiple congressional districts, along with several statehouse seats.

Dallas County Republican chairman Rodney Anderson said Republicans are still in the fight.

“Turnout in Dallas County has been strong among Republican, Democrat and traditional general election voters,” he said. “The Dallas County Republican Party will continue to be actively engaged in making sure that Republican voters continue to show up at the polls in record numbers in Dallas County.”

Nearby Collin and Denton counties, which lean more conservative than Dallas, have also broken their early voting records, reporting more than 355,710 and 299,875 votes, respectively.

The Texas turnout even got a plug from orbit on Thursday when NASA astronaut Kate Rubins cast her early vote through a secure electronic ballot from a makeshift voting booth on the International Space Station.

Early voting continues through Oct. 30, and polls are open 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday, and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday.

John Gravois contributed to this report.