HOUSTON – Friday is the last day of early voting in Harris County.
As of midnight, the county clerk tweeted that 1.3 million people in Harris County had cast their ballots early.
Eight locations in Harris County will be open 24 hours, including at the Victory Worship Center in North Harris County, where the county clerk shared a video of people waiting in line at midnight.
An hour ago at Victory Houston church. Voters are loving late-night voting! #HarrisVotes pic.twitter.com/xuGnZet1ou
— Harris County Clerk (@HarrisVotes) October 30, 2020
NRG Arena is also a 24-hour polling location, where there was a drive-in concert Thursday night.
“I think this is giving an opportunity to a lot of people that otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity to vote,” said Andrea Segovia. “I think Harris County is continuing to show, not only Texas, but the entire nation what happens when you make voting accessible to everybody, not just a certain demographic, not just a certain place in Harris County, but all over.”
People said they believe the extended hours bring out the younger voters who are showing they care about this election.
“I think there’s a whole, whole heck of a lot more young people that see a reason to care about this election ... so I think that the youth vote is what is, you know, sort of driving them,” said Halston Luna.
Alex Yoon voted for the first time in a presidential election.
“It feels nice that (myself) and plenty of other people in my generation have the power to make our voices heard now,” said Yoon.
There were also people voting overnight at the Tracey Gee Community Center in West Houston.
“It was pretty empty and fast, everything was going pretty swiftly, so just come out and vote. It’ll be a good time to vote at a 24-hour center,” said another voter.
All polling locations in Harris County were open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday.
Election Day is November 3.
