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The U.S. is launching into an historic election today. Polls are open from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. today after Texas shattered records in early voting. Lubbock saw a 56% increase of registered voters participate in early voting, most of whom cast their ballots in-person. In the 2016 election the county favored President Donald Trump. He received 66% of the county's votes, whereas Hillary Clinton received 28%.
This election, Lubbock will also vote for mayor. The race is between incumbent Dan Pope and Stephen Sanders. Follow this news river for updates throughout election day.
Polls closed at 7 p.m.
More than 3,000 people voted at the Texas Tech University Library, the only on-campus polling location.
A poll supervisor did not have an exact number, but said that many voters cast a provisional ballot. Provisional ballots are used when a voter’s eligibility is in question. Many college-aged students are registered to vote in their hometown rather than their college town.
The last voter got in line three minutes before the deadline. By 7:08, he was inside.
Voter turnout
As of 5:30 p.m., the Lubbock County Elections Office reports 12,299 people have voted in person today. That's the highest single-day turnout of the election, including the busy early voting days.
Lubbock County surpassed total voter turnout for the 2016 general election during early voting. That year, 100,779 people voted, according to the elections office. Including early, mail-in and Election Day votes with a little over an hour to go, more than 118,000 people voted in Lubbock County this election.
There are 183,976 people registered to vote in Lubbock County. About 64% of registered voters cast a ballot this election, up from 60% in 2016.
Tech student experiences racism after voting
Ashley Lewis said she walked out of the Catholic church she voted at Tuesday feeling good about casting a provisional ballot. She’s a Texas Tech student who is registered to vote back home in Dallas. It was her first time voting in person.
As she was headed to her car, a man in a white pickup truck yelled at her.
“He goes ‘Can’t wait to see you up in that tree tomorrow.’ And it took me a second to realize what he said,” Lewis said.
Lewis is an African-American woman. She said she didn’t feel personally threatened by the man’s comment, but does worry for other people of color.
The Lubbock Police Department said in a statement late Tuesday afternoon that they received no calls for service regarding voter intimidation in the city on Election Day.
Texas Civil Rights Project Monitors Curbside Voting (updated 2:13 p.m.)
After hearing accounts from Lubbock voters that the county has only one designated curbside voting location, the Texas Civil Rights Project immediately sent a letter to Lubbock County addressing the issue. The letter stated:
"We have received numerous verified reports that Lubbock County has refused or negligently failed to provide adequate curbside voting—including signage with curbside voting instruction and procedures—at its polling places. Despite our efforts to rectify these problems directly with your office, the problems have persisted. We send this notice to remind you that such failures are clear violations of the Texas Election Code, Americans with Disabilities Act, frustrate the entire purpose of the curbside voting option for individuals with disabilities, and ignores guidance provided to the county by the Texas Secretary of State. The County is not permitted to restrict curbside voting to one single polling place location...(read the full letter here)"
In a conference call with media outlets across the state, Mimi Marziani, the president of the Texas Civil Rights Project, said that the county responded that they are in compliance with this mandate--they do however encourage COVID positive patients to utilize the polling location at the elections office for better protection.
Maziani said that there may still be scattered reports of difficulty accessing curbside voting where there is not "uniform compliance." They will continue to monitor the situation.
Lunchtime
Polling locations in south and west Lubbock saw steady traffic, but around lunchtime Tuesday, there were no lines outside at five voting places.
Polls open at 7 a.m.
Polls around Lubbock were pretty quiet this morning. A few people were seen waiting outside of Heritage Middle School around 6 a.m. Outside of the Patterson libaray in East Lubbock, people waited in their cars until 7 a.m. when the polls officially opened.