Heavy turnout reported across the state as Texas begins early voting

AUSTIN, Texas - Long lines were reported at several Texas polling places across the state as early voting got underway three weeks before election day.

In Texas, early voting is from October 13 through October 30. The last day to apply for a mail-in ballot is October 23rd and Election Day is November 3rd.

This footage, filmed by Cody R Arn on Tuesday morning, shows the line forming outside the South Austin polling location at the Ruiz Branch of the Austin Public Library. Arn told Storyful that he waited in line for an hour and a half before casting his vote.

Travis County has 37 early voting polling locations.

Grocery stores will not be utilized like years past. States are turning to stadiums, drive-thrus, and possibly even movie theaters as safe options for in-person polling places amid the coronavirus pandemic and fears about mail-in ballots failing to arrive in time to count.

The AT&T Center, home of the San Antonio Spurs, is one of the safe options being utilized in Texas. "The 13,725 sq. ft. space on the Plaza Level concourse will allow for a larger voter turnout as the City of San Antonio and Bexar County continue to practice social distancing guidelines," the county said in an announcement about the polling center.

The Spurs organization posted this video on their official Twitter channel, writing: Rise and shine, it’s time to #VoteEarly! Early voting is underway here at the @attcenter."

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This footage, taken on Tuesday by Zevi Lowenberg, shows voters lined up outside Northwest Vista College in San Antonio, where polls opened at 8 am.

This footage was filmed at 6.59 am – one minute before polls opened – and shows the scene at Audelia Road Branch Library in Dallas.

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This footage, shared by Twitter user @coolblknerd from Katy on Tuesday morning, shows a line of voters waiting outside the Lone Star College campus polling location. At the time, the source said he had waited two hours and was still on line.

This footage, taken by Jennifer G Hudson on Tuesday morning, shows the line of voters congregating at the Westside Pearland Library in the suburbs of Houston, where polls opened at 9 am.

Jennifer said that she has lived in Pearland for 13 years and has never waited in line to vote before.

Could Texas turn blue in the 2020 presidential election? The state has long been considered undeniably red and almost exclusively voted Republican in decades of past presidential elections.

But that could potentially change this year, experts say.

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