At the close of Bowie County's early voting at 5 p.m. Friday, 17,693 ballots had been cast, Elections Administrator George Stegall said.
Adding the expected number of absentee, mail-in votes, Stegall anticipates that about 20,400 votes will have been cast in the county before Election Day. That number would set a new record, surpassing the approximately 19,800 early and absentee votes cast in the county in 2012, he said.
Early voting ballots will remain in locked, sealed boxes in a secure room in the Bowie County Courthouse until Election Day, when officials will remove them from the boxes and count them.In Miller County as of 5 p.m. Friday, 8,434 early votes had been cast, Election Coordinator Linda Crawford said.
More than 7,000 Miller County residents voted early in 2012, she said, so with two more days of early voting remaining, this year's number is already some 20 percent higher. Turnout on Friday was particularly heavy.
"It was as crowded today as it ever has been," Crawford said.
Early voting continues from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today in two Texarkana, Ark., locations: the Miller County Courthouse, 400 Laurel St.; and Hickory Street Baptist Church, 2923 Hickory St. Voters may also cast ballots at the courthouse from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 8. In Bowie County, polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, and in Miller County, Election Day voting hours are 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Complete lists of polling places for both counties can be found online at bit.ly/2016PollingPlaces and in the Sunday, Monday and Tuesday print editions of the Gazette.