The Cameron County Commissioner’s Court has extended the hours for the last two days of Early Voting from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. at all locations.
The last two days of Early Voting are Thursday, Oct. 29 and Friday Oct. 30 and the extra hour intends to give the community another chance to get to the polls.
“We are really excited that the commissioners have added these additional hours to give people the opportunity to come out and vote,” Remi Garza, administrator of Cameron County’s Elections and Voter Registration, said.
“We understand that at certain times, people get busy but by extending this extra hour it gives them another chance to get to the polls, to get their ballot in.”
When it comes to the numbers, Garza said the numbers of Early Voting so far have outpaced the total of early voters for the 2016 election. As of press time 71,472 people had voted in Cameron County.
“They’re far outpacing 2016. They’ve already surpassed the total of the in-person early voting turnout a couple days ago,” Garza said. “We are fully expecting to have close to 80,000 people actually cast their ballot early in Cameron County, if not more.”
According to Cameron County officials, there are approximately 219,000 individuals registered to vote in Cameron County. In the 2016 election, there were 197,726 registered to vote with only 91,804 individuals actually voting in the county.
“We encourage them to vote early because they can vote at their convenience, versus having to go to their specific polling place on Election Day and only in between those hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.,” Garza said.
“If they choose to vote early they can choose any one of the 24 locations throughout Cameron County and they will be open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. those last two days, the 29th and the 30th. It’s a great opportunity and make sure you review your ballots.”
Garza said they are taking every safety measure needed to keep the community safe during the election.
“We want to make sure that people understand that we are doing everything we can to protect them and to protect the vote,” Garza said in a previous interview.
“Make sure you review your ballots so that you can understand who is going to be there and you go through the process quicker. Make sure that everything you want to vote for gets covered so that you don’t end up having to spend a lot of time in the polling place.”
Voters must bring a valid photo ID or approved form of identification with them to the polls to be able to vote. Approved alternative forms of ID are listed on the elections department website, cameroncounty.us/elections. Voters can also go to the website to find early voting sites as well as the locations of polling places on Election Day, Nov. 3, or call the elections office (956) 544-0809.
