Collin County early voting turnout doubles after switch to hand-marked paper ballots

Kaleb Breaux, Collin County elections administrator, said first-day early voting at the North Texas McKinney Collin County Elections Administration building on Redbud Boulevard drew roughly twice as many voters as the county’s previous primary, sending staff who had been setting up equipment Monday into extended service to manage higher turnout. Early voting began Tuesday, Feb. 17, and county officials characterized the jump as linked to the switch back to hand-marked paper ballots.

County officials emphasized that the ballots are hand-marked, not hand-counted, and Breaux said tabulators will be used to count ballots while ballot-marking devices remain available on request for voters who need them. Breaux described the return to hand-marked ballots as one of the biggest differences voters will notice this primary after long wait times in the fall prompted the change.

Collin County is operating 36 early voting locations across the county and has designated 86 Election Day locations for March 3, the county’s primary election day. Breaux said the 86 Election Day locations are eleven fewer than the number prescribed by the state and that he is legally allowed to combine precincts; he also cited difficulty finding more polling locations in northern and eastern parts of the county and said some polling locations have grown weary of the political climate.

Voters at the Redbud Boulevard office offered mixed reactions as lines moved steadily. Juanita Donahue said, "I came out to exercise my right to vote. I like to vote early," and added, "The process went great. In and out, no problems." An on-site male voter who declined to give his name told reporters he was "not crazy" about the paper ballots. A senior voter who spoke during the early voting day raised concerns about mistakes on paper ballots, saying, "if you make mistake, you have to go do a whole new ballot," and recommending larger print and reading glasses while noting the process "took a few minutes longer, but it was fine."

Breaux highlighted administrative changes at check-in, noting that voters no longer must verbally state which party’s primary they want and that "now they're able to make that selection on an actual tablet screen." County elections staff also pointed voters to the Collin County elections website, which includes an interactive map showing polling locations and wait times, and the county reminded voters that registration certificates have seen delays across the state because of redistricting and that registered voters do not need that certificate to vote.

Early voting continues through Friday, Feb. 27, with officials tracking turnout as they prepare for Primary Election Day on March 3 and for the larger electoral cycle ahead in November. Breaux and county staff attributed the first-day surge to the change to hand-marked ballots and to voters adjusting to the new process.