More than 114,000 voters cast ballots on day 2 of early voting in Harris County

Thursday, October 15, 2020
10,000 early votes cast per hour in Harris County
With turnout already at record levels in Harris County, the second day of the early vote period has drawn 10,000 voters per hour at each site.

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- After a record breaking first day of early voting in Harris County, more people are headed to the polls on day two.

The Harris County Clerk said 114,996 voters cast their ballot in-person Wednesday, setting a new record for day two of early voting in Harris County.

Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins said they're seeing about 10,000 votes an hour.

This comes after more than 128,000 people voted early in Harris County on day one, nearly doubling the record set in 2016. The total for both days combined came out to 243,182.

SEE MORE: Harris County shatters record for first day of early voting in country

Another voting option that's starting to take off in Harris County is drive-thru voting. Houstonians are now able to vote without leaving their car.

"I love it. It's fantastic. A wonderful decision for them to make," voter Jacque Tatum said.

She said since she's at high risk of catching COVID-19, drive-thru voting has been a game changer.

"You can drive through and it's individualized," she said. "You're not around people so you're staying your six-feet distance."

There are 10 drive-thru voting sites, and about 11,000 voters cast their ballots at the Houston Food Bank on the first day of early voting.

"Voting is safe and secure no matter how you do it. But in Texas, we love our cars, we love our trucks, we love our drive-thru's, and so we want to see folks take advantage of this drive-thru option," Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said.

She added that the county has made a $30 million investment into voting to ensure that during this pandemic, everyone can vote, whether in-person or from their car.

"We've been honored to be able to provide so many options from drive-thru voting, to 24-hour voting, to extending voting to a later period, to tripling the number of voting centers," Hollins added.

Voters can check estimated wait times at early voting sites at HarrisVotes.com/locations.

Follow Marla Carter on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.