Early voting underway for 2020 Texas primaries

Early voting begins for Texas primaries

The Democratic race for president and U.S. Senate in Texas are among the races generating attention, along with numerous local congressional contests.

DALLAS - Polls opened Tuesday for early voting in the Texas primaries. Voters can cast ballots in the hotly contested Democratic presidential race and many other races.

Texas is one of more than a dozen states that are part of the Super Tuesday primaries, which will play a huge role in determining who the Democrats nominate for the 2020 presidential election in November.

The party is choosing among several hopefuls. Sen. Bernie Sanders recently surged into the lead in some polls. Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is also on the ballot in Texas but it’s not clear if his massive spending will translate into votes.

The overall interest in voting always goes up in a presidential election year. Voters will also be asked to pick Republican and Democratic party candidates for races that include the U.S. Senate, U.S. House, Texas Legislature, State Board of Education, Railroad Commission and judicial seats.

The Democrats must choose a candidate to run against Republican Sen. John Cornyn in November.

FOX4 VOTER'S GUIDE: 2020 Texas Primaries

The early voting period will be a big test for new election equipment in several counties.

Dallas County Elections Administrator Toni Pippins-Poole talked to Good Day and tried to reassure residents about the integrity of the voting process.

There were some security issues with the county’s expensive new voting equipment and a warehouse was not equipped to store all of that equipment.

“We've been working very hard for the last couple of months in preparing not only our election judges but also our election equipment. We have definitely been preparing a long hard battle to make sure that the voters understand that we're here for the voters. We're here to make sure that their votes are counted correctly. We're here to make sure that they understand that our system is very secure, and we'll do what it takes to make sure that everything works perfectly here in Dallas County,” she said.

Dallas County says equipment ready for early voters

Elections administrator Toni Pippins-Poole said the county has been working hard to get its new voting machines ready for early voting for the March primaries.

In Tarrant County, election workers were trained Monday on some voting machines that are only being used for the second time.

They still employ touchscreen technology but with this new system, voters receive a sheet of paper with all their ballot choices so they can check them before submitting them into a scanner. The idea is to provide voters with an additional measure of confidence in the whole process.

The head of elections in Tarrant County said his 47 early voting locations are ready.

“We have prepared for a higher than usual turnout. I think the worst that can happen to us is that we say run out of paper. We ran out of ballots. Whether or not people actually turn out in those big numbers, we don’t know. But we are prepared for it if it happens,” said Tarrant County Elections Administrator Heider Garcia.

Early voting continues through Feb. 28. Election day is on March 3.