Dallas County holding drive-thru voter registrations until Monday's deadline

DALLAS — We are in the final stretch leading up to the election and these political races are heating up, along with the race to register.

Monday, Oct. 7 is the last day for people to register to vote in Texas. The Dallas County Elections Department held drive-thru registrations through early Saturday evening.

"There's a lot of new [people] that have moved to our county and to our community," said Esmerelda Garcia, who is the Dallas County Elections voter registration outreach coordinator.

Saturday saw some last-minute drive-thru registrations before it closed at 5 p.m. The Santos brothers, ages 25 and 23, didn't want to wait until Monday, so they decided to register to vote for the first time.

"It feels like I'm doing something that I should have been doing," said Jorge Santos. "I feel like this upcoming election -- every vote matters," he said.

"This is a very important [vote] to me as a woman," said Priscilla, who also used the drive-thru at the Dallas County Elections Department. "I just wanted to get it in beforehand just in case there was a fluke or something."

The Texans who came by the drive-thru Saturday came because they feared Monday could get hectic. On Monday, the Dallas County Elections drive-thru will be open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. at 1520 Round Table Drive in Dallas.

People who go to the facility can also get a tutorial on how to use the voting machines to ensure their vote counts.

"Monday everyone is gonna be working, everyone is gonna be busy and be distracted with others," said Santos.

Meanwhile, in the Texas Senate race, Democrat Congressman Colin Allred and Incumbent Republican Ted Cruz are set for a showdown. Cruz's bus tour had a stop in Keller Saturday night. Allred was also in Tarrant County earlier in the day.

The next time they're in the same location might be when they debate on Oct. 15 on WFAA.