El Paso beats early voting record with over 17.5k ballots cast; How to cast yours

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Early voting begins Monday, and the El Paso County Elections Department is sharing why this upcoming election is important and the turnout it's expecting.

While Election Day is Nov. 3, the elections department says you have two weeks from now to make time to vote, including Saturdays and Sundays.

There will be less lines in these two weeks than on Election Day, so don't risk not being able to vote last-minute.

As of Oct. 19, there are more than 540,700 registered voters in the county.

On the first day of early voting, more than 17,500 in-person votes were cast by 7:40 p.m., according to the elections department. It said the amount beat a previous record for first day midterm early voting, which was 17,236 ballots in 2018.

The department is noticing higher interest in this election compared to the last midterm and primary election, with an increase of 10,000 registration applications for the last primary election.

It said the state races for governor and senator are what's peaking voters' interest this time.

But, one of their coordinators says other races need equal attention.

"We always say that the ballot is what drives the voters to the polls," says Melissa Martin with the El Paso County Elections Department. "We have the school districts, we have also the cities and water districts. You know, local elections always matter."

Martin also says it is a lengthy ballot and the department wants voters to be prepared before they head to the polls.

Voters can always review a sample ballot, print it and take it to the polls. 

You need to bring one of the accepted forms of photo I.D., including:

• Texas driver’s license
• U.S. citizenship certificate or certificate of naturalization
• U.S. passport book or card

After what happened in the primary election this year, the El Paso County Elections Department did a log and accuracy test last week on electronic pollbook equipment.

It's to make sure that essential devices are working properly and ballot styles are correctly assigned to voters.

"Everything is running smoothly on our end, everything is going to be ready. You know, we are currently also training our poll workers," says Martin. "

The first day of early voting, Oct. 19 and the last day, Oct. 30, is expected to be the busiest.

You can vote at any of the early voting locations, most of them open as early as 8 a.m.

It has wait times available on their website as well.

Find the list of locations here. The El Paso County Elections Department said on Monday, Oct. 19, a fire at the Downtown County Courthouse closed the building for the day. Voters can cast their ballots at the El Paso Senior Center (600 S. Ochoa St.), which is the closest alternative to the courthouse.

ABC-7 made a voter guide for you. Find it here.