Tish Conley tried to carve out time to vote ever since the start of early voting. The 48-year-old who works in information technology for IBM, however, couldn’t make it work with a schedule that has to consider colleagues in India in different time zones.
“I just never could find a time during the day,” Conley said.
That changed this week when she turned on the news and heard about polling sites that would be open 24 hours on Thursday throughout Harris County.
“Oh, hell yeah,” she thought. “I’m going to do that.”
Conley was among a steady flow of voters who arrived in handfuls Thursday evening to Kashmere Multiservice Center, one of the eight early voting sites in the county scheduled to remain open through the night and continue to welcome voters through the small hours of Friday as the only 24-hour voting locations in the state.
Early Friday, voters were in line at least at some of the eight locations that stayed open while the county surpased voter turnout for the 2016 election. Hours at 112 voting sites in the county were also extended this week by three hours, opening at 7 a.m. and closing at 10 p.m. since Tuesday.
Terell Bowie planned to vote on the first day of early voting. But those were just plans.
When he finished watching NFL football Thursday night, he headed to NRG Stadium to get in line and cast his ballot. Because why not, if the polls are open?
“It’s no excuse now,” Bowie said as he marched to the back of the line shortly before midnight. “You can’t say you were watching TV or working.”
Others simply procrastinated until they found out about the extended hours or couldn’t find the time to vote due to their jobs.
By nearly 9 p.m. at the Kashmere Multiservice Center, several voters had come and gone during a brisk evening. Few had to wait long as the line outside of the entrance moved quickly.
“It was really fast,” Conley, wearing a sweater and gloves, said after voting.
For some, the extended hours werea welcome opportunity .
“I had no idea,” said Erick Luna, 28. His dad told him about the polling sites staying open about an hour and a half before he showed up to the multi-service center.
“I was like, ‘I’ll do it today,’” Luna said as he walked to the entrance.
Harold Jackson, 50, didn’t punch out from his job at the Port of Houston until around 9:45 p.m. Cargo handling isn’t a 9-5 job and without spots like Victory Houston Church near his northern Houston home, he might not have cast a ballot.
“I’m glad they did it,” Jackson said, even if he admitted he was unsure many second and third shift workers would show up during the expanded hours.
“It worked for me, but I don’t know if that makes it worth it,” Jackson said.
For Rafael Gonzales, it was certainly worth it. He had never have cast his first ballot in Texas otherwise. Gonzales, who works nearby and brought his coworker with him to vote, said opening voting centers, if only for one night, shows election officials thought to include everyone.
“It makes you feel like they know who you are,” he said. “I work two jobs, and nothing is open at night. It’s hard... This was easy.”
At NRG Arena around 9:45 p.m., The Suffers finished a set at a drive-in concert to kick-off the 24-hour voting .
Bun B as well as Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins, who said the overnight initiative was the first ever in Texas, were scheduled to take the stage soon after. A bike ride for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden was expected to kick off at 11:59 p.m. and head to the stadium too, according to an event flier.
The effort to extend hours was intended to make voting easier for people who have non-traditional schedules and those who want to avoid lines, which have at times snaked around some locations during this year’s historic turnout.
“Whether you’re a first responder who clocks in and out at 5 a.m., a medical professional working to save lives around the clock, someone keeping shelves full at grocery stores, or a shift worker keeping our port running, we want to give you the opportunity to cast your vote at a time that is convenient for you and four family,” Hollins said in a statement.
Minutes after elections officials announced early voter turnout had eclipsed the 2016 total turn out,Bun B took the stage to blares from car horns and cheers at the drive-in show at NRG.
In between songs he made a few jokes but ended his set by encouraging people to capitalize on the opportunity of the polling places still open.
“Twenty-one more hours, so if you want to go to Waffle House or something first and then come back and vote,” he said to a few claps from about a dozen people standing in front of the stage and some more car honks.
Nearby the stage, Raven Douglas listened for the rapper during his set. She said she planned to go vote after the show with her boyfriend and family. While she could have voted early before Thursday, she said it was important to recognize the significance of the 24-hour polling sites.
“I wanted to wait for this moment because it’s so special,” said Douglas, 24, who serves as the political director of the nonprofit Move Texas. “I think it’s really special to celebrate voting and voting access — especially in the middle of this pandemic.”
“It’s really important that we have this.”
The 24-hour sites are:
Kashmere Multiservice Center, 4802 Lockwood
John P. McGovern Texas Medical Center Commons, 6550 Bertner
NRG Arena, Hall D, 1 NRG Parkway
Victory Houston, 809 West
Tracy Gee Community Center, 3599 Westcenter
East Harris County Activity Center, 7340 Spencer
Prairie View A&M University Northwest, 9449 Grant
Juergens Hall Community Center, 26026 Hempstead
alejandro.serrano@chron.com
dug.begley@chron.com
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