SMITH COUNTY, Texas — Early voting started Monday for all counties across the state. East Texans got up early to be the first in line to cast their ballot for the 2022 primary election.
“I enjoy voting, I’ve been waiting for this day all year and this is it,” said Anna Steele.
Smith County saw a good number of voters lining up at the polling sites.
“We’ve had a steady trickle of voters all day long,” said Michelle Allcon, Smith County Election Administrator. “Before I left for lunch we had 700 voters who’ve been through so far at all five of our polling places.”
This year’s early voting season is expected to be different from the years prior. With Senate Bill 1 now in effect, voters will begin to notice more poll watchers and new regulations for voter assistants.
One of the biggest changes and challenges election offices are seeing is the confusion over the mail-in ballot that now requires an identification number.
“There is a secrecy flap on the back of those envelopes, where they put their identification number, this is a new law,” said Jennifer Briggs, Election administrator for Gregg County. “They had to do it for their application. And now they have to do it for the ballot as well. So those numbers must match what's in our voter registration system.”
Smith County alone had to reject about 150 mail-in ballots due to errors found on the envelope.
“That still a good number of voters, we don’t want to reject any so those voters will have the opportunity to correct the defect on their carrier employee,” said Allcon. “The ballot is not finally rejected it’s just we’ve had returned it to the voter and we’ve given the voter that opportunity to correct it.”
With day one of early voting starting at a good pace, election officials are predicting a higher voter turnout this year.
“More people are interested on what’s on the ballot and how it affects them, not just locally but on the state level and national level,” said Allcon “I think we will continue to see more people who are interested coming out to vote.”
The deadline for mail-in ballot applications is Friday, Feb. 18, at 5 p.m.
RELATED: Mineola ISD board calls for $29.85 million bond election to build new primary school, add CTE center