FORT WORTH, Texas — More than 8.9 million Texans cast their ballots, either in-person or by mail, before Election Day on Nov. 5.
There are 18,623,931 registered voters in Texas, according to the Secretary of State's office. About 48 percent voted early.
"Voter enthusiasm is pretty high," SMU political science professor Matthew Wilson said. "There's a lot of interest, whether driven by admiration for one of the candidates or fear or loathing of one of the candidates. For a variety of reasons, people seem eager to cast their ballot."
This year's early voting turnout won't shatter 2020's record when 9,702,263 people — about 57 percent of registered voters — cast ballots early.
The 2020 record will be difficult to break. To mitigate the spread of COVID-19 then, the state extended the voting window to 18 days and made it easier for more people to vote by mail.
In Dallas County, 659,311 people voted early — about 45 percent of registered voters. In 2020, 780,456 people voted early — about 56 percent of registered voters.
In Tarrant County, 658,484 people voted early — about 50 percent of registered voters. In 2020, 729,557 people voted early — about 60 percent of registered voters.
Both Dallas and Tarrant counties smashed 2016 early voting totals, though.
Other areas set local records. More people in Denton and Collin counties voted early in person than ever before.
"When you combine greater Republican willingness and comfort with early voting with the large population growth in those counties, it's not surprising to see really high numbers compared to previous election cycles," Wilson said.
About 60 percent of all registered voters in Rockwall County voted early, the strongest early turnout of any county in the metroplex.
Rockwall County elections administrator Christopher Lynch credited a "robust information operations campaign" for the high turnout but said he'd hoped for even better numbers.
"We're the smallest county in the state of Texas," he said, referring to Rockwall County's geographical size. "We've got 13 locations that'll be open on Tuesday. If 20,000 people decide to show up on Tuesday, that's going to be a long day."
Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday.