KILLEEN, TX — It's now 21 days until Election Day, leading hundreds of people to take advantage of early voting across Central Texas.
The first day of early voting kicked off with extremely long lines at a voting location in Killeen.
“How long did it take you to get to the front and actually cast your vote?”
“About four hours,” said Dollie Rountree.
Rountree watched the sun rise from the parking lot next door to the Killeen Community Center. As 40 minutes turned into 4 hours, Rountree says the wait was expected.
”Well I already anticipated that it was going to be an extremely long line so I already prepared myself for the wait and it was worth it," Rountree said.
For Tod Stewart, and his daughter Keegan, a four-hour wait is just a little too long.
”Four hours for early voting is a long time. The reason I do the early voting is to not have to stand in line on the third," he said. "I saw the line and we decided that we both have an opportunity to come back out tomorrow, so we’ll see if it’s a little shorter of a line earlier tomorrow.”
“It might look discouraging but I’m determined to vote,” said Esthella Cunninghal.
Esthella Cunninghal says she know what it’s like not to have the right to vote, so after becoming an American citizen 25 years ago, it’s a privilege she does not take lightly.
”This is important coming from a country where we didn’t have that right for many, many years with the military dictator so definitely, I’m willing to wait until I vote," she said.
Whether you vote today, tomorrow or on November 3rd, they all agree that it's important to get out and vote.
“It’s your duty. This is a duty, so everybody should vote," said Cunninghal.
"You may not feel you have an impact on it but definitely in the local scene you have a huge impact on what the future of your community looks like. Get out and vote," Stewart said.
“Just prepare yourself, you know if you have to bring water or lawn chair...just a book or something but just hang in there,” said Rountree.
Some people in line said a few of the voting machines were down and a technician had to be called in to fix the problem which allegedly caused the line to get so backed up.
25 News reached out to the Bell County Elections Office but were not able to confirm that information.
