Despite virus fears, Texas sends most voters to the polls

Early voting began Tuesdaywith long lines in Texas, one of the few places in the U.S. 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 (1,300-kilometer) swing acrossTexas inHouston, with a stop in Dallas in between.

Regina Cuchapin, a registered Democrat and Houston resident, said she still didn’t feel safe eating in restaurants because of the coronavirus but that shewas 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 Tuesday afternoon, Houston election officials reportedmore than 100,000 votes had been cast in Harris County, a record turnout for a single day of early voting, which continues through Oct. 30.