Lines were long and parking lots were full at six vote centers around Comal County as residents waited to cast ballots on the first day of early voting for the Nov. 3 midterm election.
Official results will be posted to Comal County’s Elections Office website on Tuesday.
Comal County Democratic Party Chair Vicky Locke said there was a one-hour wait at St. Francis Episcopal Church, the only vote center in Canyon Lake.
Comal County Republican Party Chair Anita Valdez said there was a two-hour wait at Bulverde’s Mammen Family Public Library.
“I think people are pretty fired up,” she said.
“Our democracy is alive,” a Comal County resident posted on social media.
By 11 a.m. he had tried to vote at three different locations but discovered long lines at the Comal County Elections Office and Comal County’s Church Hill Annex.
There was no parking at the library.
A woman who voted at St. Francis said she waited for an hour but was “proud to do it.”
Another voter said she waited an hour and a half to vote at the Comal County Elections Office, although senior citizens and those with physical limitations were allowed to skip the line.
“It’s an awesome problem to have,” a resident posted. “Just wait. Try Wednesday or Thursday, 9:30 a.m. We should all be good.”
Voter turnout also was heavy around Texas.
According to The Political HQ on Twitter, as of 7:30 p.m. Dallas County recorded 75,834 votes or 232.6% of its 2022 first-day total and 134.6% of its 2024 first-day total.
“Dallas has surpassed presidential-year turnout on the first day of early voting in a midterm year.”
Harris County set a record for first-day early voting turnout in a midterm election with two and one-half hours still to go at the polls.
Around 42,000 voters turned out in Bexar County, 10,000 more than on the first day of voting in the 2022 midterms — a 32% increase.