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topicnews · October 25, 2024

Fixing an issue with electronic poll book software reduces wait times to vote – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

Fixing an issue with electronic poll book software reduces wait times to vote – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

Early Voting – What You Should Know

  • Guide for Voters on Election Day: Find important dates, how to check your voter status, how to find out where and when you can vote early and on Election Day, and what to bring to the polls.
  • When is election day? Tuesday, November 5th is Election Day. On this day, polls in Texas will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. You can vote if you stand in line by 7 p.m. on election day.
  • Where can I vote early? Early voting runs from Monday, October 21st to Friday, November 1st. Click here for early voting hours and locations for Collin, Dallas, Denton and Tarrant counties.
  • How many people voted early? On Monday, the first day of early voting, a record number of people voted early. Click here to view daily early voting totals from Collin, Dallas, Denton and Tarrant counties and compare them to previous years.
  • Who is on the ballot? Click the links to filter races by category or county: State Races | State race | Collin County | Dallas County | Denton County | Tarrant County
  • How can I vote by postal vote? The deadline is approaching. Everything you need to know can be found here.

Early voting went mostly smoothly across North Texas.

However, some voters in Dallas County faced long lines Monday. Election officials blamed the wait on a software problem that they said has since been fixed.

Some voters said they waited more than an hour and a half to cast their ballots on Monday, but on Tuesday most voters at the Samuell Grand Rec Center in East Dallas said they waited about 20 minutes.

Heider Garcia, Dallas County election administrator, said the software problem with electronic poll books has been resolved.

According to the election agency, some electronic poll books displayed a black screen or error message when voters checked in on Monday, and in some cases the wrong ballot was printed.

This slowed lines at some locations as poll workers had to restart the machines.

Garcia said poll book machines at some of the first locations to report problems were collected and sent to vendor Election Systems & Software for inspection.

“We were able to identify the software issue with the vendor, the vendor provided a workaround for this issue and today everything is running smoothly,” Garcia said. “Some voters received the wrong ballot and there is actually no recourse for that. We cannot go back into a box and pull out a ballot or give a voter a second ballot. So that’s something that will have to be addressed after the election, whether it has an impact or not.”

Asked if he was sure every vote would be counted, Garcia replied “yes.”

“Absolutely. The problem [Monday] had nothing to do with voting or vote counting,” Garcia said.

In Sunnyvale, the issue prompted the school district to send a message reminding voters to double-check whether their bond issue was on the ballot.

Wait times may be slightly longer in Dallas County as City of Dallas residents must review 18 charter changes.

Election officials say it’s best to check your sample ballot online. This way you will know your decision before you enter the voting booth.

Weekends offer the shortest wait times; Next week, Dallas County will offer extended early voting hours.

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