Amid virus, Texas voters sent to polls
HOUSTON (AP) — Early voting began Tuesday with long lines in Texas, one of the few places in the US not allowing widespread mail balloting during the pandemic, and Jill Biden rallied supporters across the red state that Democrats are no longer writing off.
Texas is one of just five states that did not dramatically expand mail-in voting this year because of COVID-19. And hours before polls opened, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s order limiting counties to one mail ballot drop-off box was upheld by a federal appeals court, stopping dozens of shuttered sites around Texas from reopening.
Both the virus and Texas’ high stakes in November were front-of-mind in Jill Biden’s first stop, the border city of El Paso, where Abbott has deployed more nurses and medical equipment as cases and hospitalizations climb. Campaigning for her husband, former Vice President Joe Biden, she was due to end her 800-mile swing across Texas in Houston.
Regina Cuchapin, a registered Democrat and Houston resident, said she still didn’t feel safe eating in restaurants because of the coronavirus but that she was willing be among crowds to exercise her right to vote.
“I think that now that people know how serious it is and what precautions to take, I think those who are ready to come out are taking those precautions,” said Cuchapin, a healthcare worker.
By midday Tuesday, Houston election officials reported more than 68,000 votes had been cast in Harris County, a record for the first day of early voting.
Long lines were common at polling sites across Texas, as were masks, although voters are not required to wear them inside polling places. In suburban Houston’s Fort Bend County, technical problems kept machines offline for more than an hour as hundreds of people waited to vote. The county’s top elected official said he would authorize an investigation.
“Those who are responsible will be held accountable,” said Fort Bend County Judge KP George.
Much is on the line in America’s largest red state, which has competitive congressional and state legislative races and is a potential presidential battleground. And local election authorities have been pulling out all the stops to ensure the state’s 16 million registered voters can safely cast their ballots in person.