Today (10/21) is the first day of early voting in Texas and I went to go vote for Trump today in the Houston metro area (a Dem strong-hold). In mid-afternoon around 4:00pm, the parking lot was 98% full and the line to vote was out to the STREET (on top of the long hallway inside where people were standing in line). Despite the aggravation element, it was really nice to see a big turn-out.

I was also shocked to see signs posted for Trump/Vance and other Republican candidates in the parking lot of the polling location (legally posted - outside of the restricted distance area). Last time, all I saw were Dem candidate signs everywhere around the polling location.

Even though I'm in a neighboring suburb of Houston - (not in Harris country within Houston city limits), it's still been largely Dem-controlled for many years around here. Hoping that the winds of change have possibly hit Houston metro and we'll see a RED wave this time around.

UPDATE: I voted today (10/22) and it was a zoo again at the polling location with people lined up outside all the way to the parking lot. Someone ahead of me in line passed out and was laying on the ground!

Thankfully, they let me sit inside and wait my turn b/c I couldn't manage standing in line for very long (due to an injury). That was a huge score b/c I got to sit in there and observe the whole process from inside the room where they have the voter sign-in / voting booths / scan-tron machine where voters insert their paper ballots into the tabulator machine for quite a while.

In Texas, we use electronic machines to do our candidate selections on a screen, then we get to verify each of our candidate choices for each race on the screen before finalizing our ballot. After finalizing/approving our ballot, then you print it out on a long skinny piece of paper like a scan-tron ticket. Each of your candidate selections are printed out in a list on the paper ballot with the word "Rep" (for Republican) + each candidate's name for each race.

This way, you can verify that how you voted on the screen matches how your printed ballot lists your candidate choices BEFORE you insert your scan-tron ballot into the tabulator machine. The voters themselves insert their ballots into the tabulator machine, once it's scanned it gives you a confirmation message that "Your ballot has been counted" and your ballot paper drops into a large key-locked container box underneath the scanner feed slot.

I talked to a few of the poll worker volunteers while I was inside there and asked some questions, such as, "Were y'all expecting this big of a turn-out? It was crazy busy yesterday too. I had to come back today." The poll worker replied, "No, nobody thought we'd see this many people show up. It's like this everywhere too. We've never seen anything like this turn-out, and we've had even more people today than yesterday."

I also spoke to a guy outside in the polling location parking lot who was parked right in front of the long line where voters were standing waiting. He had his truck bed covered in Republican candidate signs, including Trump (his Republican son is running for a Texas state Congressional seat). So I asked him if he'd been hanging out there both today and yesterday to see what he had observed. He said it's been a constant flow of people both days (10/21 & 10/22) with huge turn-out and the parking lot always damn near full. He thought it was a GOOD sign (for We the People) that voters are coming out in droves and weathering the heat to stand outside in long lines to cast their ballots. I agree.

Historically, I think the perception is that low voter turn-out indicates apathy (either lack of enthusiasm about candidates or which election type is being held, and/or things are going well overall / on a 'good track' as they say). Whereas, big turn-out may suggest strong candidate enthusiasm, high interest in the races being held, and/or high motivation to change the direction if it's on the 'wrong track' as they say. Hope this interpretation is accurate and we can feel optimistic!