Around 9,000 people voted at UT’s two polling locations since early voting began Oct. 13, according to the Travis County Clerk website as of Monday evening.
Overall, 234,016 people have voted in Travis County in the past week, according to the website. During all of early voting for the 2016 presidential election, 20,433 ballots were cast on campus, accounting for about 9% of all votes in Travis County. Early voting this year continues through Oct. 30 and is six days longer than the time to vote early last election.
Alex Pointon, an international relations and global studies sophomore, said she cast her ballot at Gregory Gym on the first day of early voting after her class.
“When I got there, it wasn’t super busy,” Pointon said. “I was only there for about 30 minutes, even though I had my temporary license which meant (the poll worker) had to manually input everything.”
Pointon said she got to the polls at around 11:40 a.m., and she was glad she showed up early.
“I was really nervous about voting for the first time, but it was super easy to fill everything out,” Pointon said. “I would advise going as early in the morning as possible because the lines aren’t nearly as long. Plus, you don’t have to wait in the heat.”
Studio arts junior Fitzgerald Alan said the voting process was easy and fast.
“I voted last Friday at around 6:40 p.m., closer to when the voting was going to end,” Alan said. “I went to the Greg Gymnasium for early voting. My experience was rather quick. I changed my address because I moved to a different apartment on campus, and that took like three minutes.”
Unlike Pointon, Alan said showing up at the end of the day worked well for him.
“It probably would be easier for you to go later on in the day because there would be less people in the way,” Alan said. “Go vote. Just do it. Don’t matter who you’re voting for. If you’re above the age of 18 or 18 in general, go vote. Be a part of our country’s future.”
Eligible voters can cast their ballot from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from noon to 6 p.m. on Sundays. Wait times for all polling locations can be found on the Travis County Clerk’s website.
