Voting News

Early voting totals and more info on Election Day '24 in Dallas

Native Vote SA Early Voting Rall election

November 5 is the big election.

Courtesy photo

Tuesday November 5 is election day, which means it's time to vote. The Presidential race between Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and Republican candidate Donald Trump is the biggest contest. Yahoo says that the outcome will be determined by seven swing states, in order of Electoral College votes: Pennsylvania (19), Georgia (16), North Carolina (16), Michigan (15), Arizona (11), Wisconsin (10), and Nevada (6).

In addition to president, Texans can cast their ballots for many Texas officials running for office at federal, state, and local levels. More info can be found in this voting guide, and there is also information on three propositions before Dallas voters — S, T, and U — here.

Polls are open from 7 am-7 pm.

This roundup gathers information on public transportation, early voting, and some pro-voting efforts by local businesses.

Public transportation is free
Transportation agencies in both Dallas and Fort Worth are offering free rides as follows:

Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) is providing free transportation to polling locations within the DART Service Area on Tuesday, November 5. Voters should show their voter registration card or government ID and can ride at no cost on all DART buses, trains, GoLink, the Dallas Streetcar, Paratransit Services, and the TRE between EBJ Union and CentrePort/DFW Airport stations.

Trinity Metro will offer free rides for voting on all local services. Customers who are riding to or from the polls are eligible for free rides on Trinity Metro buses, Trinity Metro On-Demand rideshare services (including paratransit) and Trinity Metro TEXRail. Free rides also include Trinity Railway Express stations in Tarrant County, including CentrePort. To obtain a free ride, customers should notify their driver or train conductor that they are traveling to or from a voting location.

GoLink riders can use promo code VOTEPRES at checkout for a complimentary Adult Local Day Pass in the DART GoPass app.

How to find a voting location
The State of Texas organizes election information and voting locations by county. To find voting locations, click the link for your county:

Collin County Election Information (Plano, Richardson, Carrollton)
Dallas County (Addison, Carrollton, Cockrell Hill, Dallas, Farmers Branch, Garland, Glenn Heights, Highland Park, Irving, Rowlett, University Park)
Denton County (Carrollton)
Ellis County (Glenn Heights)
Rockwall County (Rowlett)

Early voting numbers
According to an analysis by the Texas Tribune, more than 9 million Texans voted in person during the two weeks of early voting or returned their absentee ballots by November 1 — representing nearly half of all registered voters, or 48.6 percent. (The total number of voters in Texas is 18.6 million.) It's down from 2020, but in 2020, the early voting period was extended to three weeks.

There was also a decline in mail-in voting: In 2020, 937,870 Texans voted by mail, but in 2024, 347,652 voted by mail. However, as the Tribune notes, there was a greater emphasis on mail-in ballots in 2020. Mail-in ballots can still be accepted until November 6.

Voting time off
Half Price Books is closing its stores (120 locations in 19 states) early on election day to give employees time to vote. The brand has a longstanding history of advocating for First Amendment Rights, and want to ensure that employees don't experience any obstacles in voting.

Reunion Tower
Reunion Tower will mark Election Day with two displays that will toggle back and forth:

"Vote" for Election Day
U.S. Flag for Election Day

The displays are one in a series of holiday-themed light shows that the little ball will display throughout November. (Continuing from October, the building will continue its support of the fall bird migration which lasts until November 17 by adjusting its light shows to protect migrating birds, reducing brightness from sunset to 11 pm, and then going dark completely after 11 pm.

Colin Allred watch party
On November 5, Congressman Colin Allred, who is running for U.S. Senate, will host an Election Night watch party at the Lonhorn Ballroom in his hometown Dallas. Allred earned endorsements from five major newspapers in Texas in five cities: Austin-American Statesman, Dallas Morning News, Houston Chronicle, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and the San Antonio Express-News — all the same five cities where CultureMap has bureaus, yay.

celebrities election

Flood Response

New relief fund launches for 2026 Texas Hill Country flood victims

People look out at flood on July 16, 2026 in Center Point, Texas

Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images

The same foundation that collected more than $60 million for the 2025 floods has launched a new fund for 2026.

Texans looking to support Hill Country neighbors affected by floods over the past few days can turn to the same organization they did for the July 2025 floods: The Community Foundation of the Hill Country has launched a new Texas Hill Country Flood Relief Fund that is accepting donations now.

The foundation emphasizes that the two funds are distinct (last year's was called the Kerr County Flood Relief Fund), so donors should note that their contributions will specifically go toward Hill Country residents affected by the current floods. The money raised will offer emergency assistance and long-term recovery support.

According to the Associated Press, nearly 1 trillion gallons of water fell on the three hardest-hit Texas counties over three days — enough to fill 1.5 million Olympic-sized swimming pools or supply 11 million homes for a year. First responders rushed to save people trapped in high waters Friday, as more heavy rain widened the danger from floods that have killed at least two people and left hundreds more in need of rescue.

Earlier in the week, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declared a disaster in 59 counties including Travis to help emergency services respond quickly.

Although many regional businesses, churches, and other groups organized donations for the 2025 floods, the Community Foundation was the main entity holding and distributing funds. The Kerr County Flood Relief Fund totaled more than $60 million by the end of that July.

"Our hearts break that the Texas Hill Country is once again facing catastrophic flooding. Just one year after the devastating July 2025 floods, many of our neighbors are again in harm's way," said Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country CEO Austin Dickson. "People from across Texas and around the world came together to help Kerr County begin the long road to recovery. As first responders and local and state officials continue their response efforts, the Community Foundation's role is to help ensure communities have the philanthropic resources they need to recover in the weeks, months and years ahead."