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Blog: Early voting problems in the Austin area

Here are the latest updates on the first day of early voting.

AUSTIN, Texas — Oct. 13 marks the first day of early voting in Texas. 

Early on, there were reports of some hiccups at polling locations in the Austin area. 

If you need to know where there are early voting polling locations in Austin and Central Texas, KVUE put together everything you need to know about early voting here.  Check out wait times at Austin-area polling locations here

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Here are the latest updates from the first day of early voting: 

6 p.m. – As of 6 p.m., 32,000 people have voted in Travis County. There is one hour left to vote on Tuesday. If you are in line by 7 p.m. you are able to vote. 

4:40 p.m. – As of 4:40 p.m., 18,151 ballots have been cast in Williamson County, according to this Williamson County Elections Administration website.

4 p.m. – As of 4 p.m., 25,000 people have voted in Travis County, according to the county clerk.

3:30 p.m. – As of 3:30 p.m., 24,000 people have voted in Travis County, according to the county clerk. Polls close at 7 p.m. tonight in Travis County and anyone in line by 7 p.m. is able to vote, the county clerk said. 

3 p.m. – By 3 p.m. on Oct. 13, a majority of polling locations across Travis County showed wait times of more than 20 minutes. Six locations in the Austin area showed a wait time of zero to 10 minutes:  Pflugerville ISD Rock Gym, Disability Rights Texas, Northwest Recreation Center, UT Gregory Gym, Millennium Youth Complex and Community Center at Del Valle.

By 3 p.m. on Oct. 13, Williamson County's locations were mostly showing at least a 16 minute to 45 minute wait. Six locations were showing wait times of more than 45 minutes: Georgetown Randalls, Pat Bryson Municipal Hall, Brushy Creek Community Center, Round Rock Randalls, Cedar Park Randalls and Williamson Co Jester Annex.

1:40 p.m. – Chris Davis, Williamson County elections administrator, told KVUE the voting machines have been working fine at Anderson Mill Limited District all day. However, he said two of the four ballot card printers weren’t connected to a hotspot correctly at the beginning of the day, which "bottlenecked the voter line a bit" until the issue was resolved at approximately 9 a.m.

1:37 p.m. – According to KVUE's Terri Gruca, 11,256 people have voted today in Williamson County. 

1:30 p.m. – By 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 13, a majority of polling locations across Travis County showed wait times of more than 20 minutes. Five locations in the Austin area showed a wait time of zero to 10 minutes: Holiday Inn Austin Midtown, Virginia L. Brown Recreation Center, Dottie Jordan Recreation Center, Parque Zaragoza Recreation Center and Community Center at Del Valle.

By 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 13, Williamson County's locations were mostly showing at least a 16 minute to 45 minute wait. Seven locations were showing wait times of more than 45 minutes: Pat Bryson Municipal Hall, Cedar Park Public Library, Brushy Creek Community Center, Round Rock Randalls, Cedar Park Randalls, Williamson Co Jester Annex, and Hutto Wilco Annex.

12:05 p.m. – KVUE received reports that the ballot box scanner at the George Morales Dove Springs Recreation Center in Austin was not working. KVUE reached out to the Travis County Clerk's Office. Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir told KVUE the polling location had an issue with the ballot box scanner. She said that when this kind of problem occurs, voters keep voting. A technician arrived at the site within a few minutes and corrected the problem, according to DeBeauvoir. Voters have been voting smoothly since, she said. As of 12 p.m., over 14,000 people have voted in Travis County, according to DeBeauvoir. 

11 a.m. – By 11 a.m. on Oct. 13, a majority of polling locations across Travis County showed wait times of more than 20 minutes. Three locations in the downtown area showed wait times of zero to 10 minutes: Austin Central Library, UT Gregory Gym and UT Flawn Academic Center.

By 11 a.m. on Oct. 13, Williamson County's locations were all showing at least a 16 minute to 45 minute wait. Eight locations were showing wait times of more than 45 minutes: Georgetown Randalls, Pat Bryson Municipal Hall, Cedar Park Public Library, Brushy Creek Community Center, Round Rock Randalls, Williamson Co Jester Annex, Hutto Wilco Annex and Anderson Mill Limited District.

10:45 a.m. – KVUE's Tom Rapp captured this photo of voters waiting in line to cast their ballots at the Austin Recreation Center, located at 1301 Shoal Creek Blvd.

Credit: Tom Rapp, KVUE
Credit: Tom Rapp, KVUE
Credit: Tom Rapp, KVUE
Credit: Tom Rapp, KVUE

10:17 a.m. – By 10 a.m. on Oct. 13, a majority of polling locations across Travis County showed wait times of more than 20 minutes. A handful of polling locations in the downtown area showed wait time of zero to 10 minutes, according to the county clerk's website. A few locations in South Austin are also showing zero to 10 minute wait times.

By 10 a.m. on Oct. 13, Williamson County's locations were all showing at least a 16 minute to 45-minute wait. Seven locations were showing wait times of more than 45 minutes: Georgetown Randalls, Pat Bryson Municipal Hall, Cedar Park Public Library, Brushy Creek Community Center, Round Rock Randalls Williamson Co. Jester Annex  and Anderson Mill Limited District.

10:05 a.m. – Travis Co. Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir says they've finished hiring and recruiting workers for early voting, but they still need almost 400 out of 2,500 Election Day workers, according to KVUE's Mari Salazar.

9:34 a.m. – Officials tell KVUE the issue at South Austin Rec Center has been fixed.

9 a.m. – By 9 a.m. on Oct. 13, most polling locations across Travis County showed wait times of more than 20 minutes. The Austin Central Library and Parque Zaragoza Recreation Center each showed wait times of less than 20 minutes, according to the county clerk's website. 

By 9 a.m. on Oct. 13, Williamson County had a handful of locations across the county showing zero to 15 minute wait times. Check out those locations here. Four locations showed a wait time of more than 46 minutes: Georgetown Randalls, Pat Bryson Municipal Hall, Brushy Creek Community Center and Round Rock Randalls.

8:17 a.m. – KVUE received reports that there's an issue at South Austin Rec Center. Officials said a tech is en route to the location and it's not a county wide issue. Angelique Montgomery told KVUE via text that there were hundreds of people waiting in line.

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