According to Saundra Bloom, county election administrator, early voting started out slow but finished up slightly stronger with a total of 413 ballots.

“The first week of early voting was really slower. We knew since this was an amendment election it was going to be slower than normal, but we were really surprised,” said Bloom. “However, this second week of voting has picked up quite a bit. Thursday and Friday we had a much better turnout than we were expecting, especially with the slow start.”

Bloom said the ballots cast during early voting account for only 2.45 percent of the registered voters in Howard County, but seem to be following a statewide trend.

“Other counties I've been communicating with have reported similar percentages,” said Bloom. “There are even a few that are a bit below that 2.45 percent marker, so I'd say Howard County is right in the average compared to the rest of the state.”

Polling places for Tuesday's election day are St. Thomas Parish Hall, 605 N. Main, for Precincts 11-14, 16, 103-105 and 112; Big Spring Mall, 1801 E. FM 700, Precincts 205, 208, 22 and 24-26; First Baptist Church, 705 W. FM 700, Precincts 33-35 and 304; Dorothy Garrett Coliseum, 1101 Birdwell Lane, 404-406, 42, 44-46; and the Coahoma Community Center, 306 North Ave., Precincts 207, 207C, 409 and 407-408.

“Normally, you expect to have early voting be about 60 percent of your election totals,” Bloom said. “I'm expecting between 250-300 ballots cast on election day, so I doubt we'll see any long lines.”

Bloom said she and her staff have their “bags packed” and are simply waiting for Tuesday.

“All of the machines are ready for the election judges to pick up Monday. So you might say our bags are packed and we're ready to go,” she said with a laugh. “With the recent school district elections, it's like we've had six weeks of continuous early voting, so we're all pretty well worn out. I imagine we'll rest pretty well after Tuesday.”

Contact Staff Writer Thomas Jenkins at 263-7331 ext. 232 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it