Last-minute election questions before critical voting day

Tuesday, November 6, 2018

Last-minute questions by voters before Election Day

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Whether you early voted or are waiting until Election Day, every voter has their own concerns.

"My big concern is about health care. My concern is who is going to take care of the health care issues we have today," said a voter named Sherrelle who talked to Eyewitness News from Discovery Green on Monday.

This midterm, voters have really turned out.

Mark Jones, a professor of political science at Rice University, is watching the turnout closely.

"We're seeing evidence of turnouts we see in presidential years, which is normally not the case for a midterm. This time around, though, people are energized. I don't think we'll hit 9 million like in 2016, but we'll come close and come somewhere between 8 and 9 million," said Jones.

The best time to vote in most precincts? Mid-morning and mid-afternoon. Avoid morning, evening and the lunch rush.

Harris County has a large election load to handle, which is one of the largest in the country. There are 1,012 precincts, 739 polling locations, 5,000 bipartisan election workers and 800 more people working as support staff every election.

The voters can arrive through 7 p.m. Tuesday.

"If people are in line, we're going to service everybody who is in line at 7 p.m. Then our election judges have lots they have to legally do to put everything together," said Harris County Clerk Stan Stanart.

Just how soon the votes are counted all depends on how much the election judges must complete at each precinct, and how quickly it can be accomplished.

"I think it's going to be a long, late night and exciting. I think it's going to be close," said voter Esther Noh.

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