It was down to the wire for people wanting to register to vote. Election workers in Dallas County stayed up late to help people complete the task.
At the Dallas County Elections office, a drive-thru registration event remained open until 11:59 p.m. Tuesday night.
Laura Varela said people appreciated the convenience of the process since they were racing against the clock. She’s with the Dallas County Elections Office and said she is always energized around this time of year.
“It’s awesome. I’ve been doing this for seven years. Two presidential elections, and every election counts,” said Varela.
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By mid-afternoon, some 400 people had completed registration forms at the location, including plenty of soon-to-be first-time voters.
“It’s what everybody does. It’s our responsibility. I have a vote, I have a voice, I want to use it,” said Maria Nelda Galvan, who recently became a United States citizen.
Sam Taylor with the Texas Secretary of State’s Office said Texas voter registration has already outpaced 2018 midterm numbers.
“This is a midterm election year. So, if we compare the midterms of today to 2018, we’ve got approximately two million more registered voters now than we did four years ago heading into that last gubernatorial election,” Taylor said.
This year, there are roughly 17.6 million registered voters in the state of Texas, compared to 2018 when there were about 15.7 million registered voters. 2016 was a turning point and it’s been an upward climb since then.
“It’s not surprising that every election that we’ve seen since 2016 has seen more engagement, more attention around it and higher turnout,” said Taylor.
Back at the Dallas County Elections Office, Varela said it’s about making sure as many qualified Texans as possible are prepared to participate come November.
“It all starts with education,” she said. “Educating them on registering to vote.”
For those who mailed registration forms, Oct. 11 was the "postmarked deadline" – meaning your registration form will count as long as it was postmarked by Oct. 11.
