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.

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Animal News

Hunt County man arrested for animal cruelty to puppy from Dallas

SPCA

Jacob Paul Nichols arrested for animal cruelty in Hunt County, Texas.

On Tuesday, June 17, a resident of Greenville, Texas was arrested for animal cruelty after allegedly letting a puppy starve to death.

According to a release, Jacob Paul Nichols was arrested and charged with Texas Penal Code 42.092, Cruelty to Non-Livestock Animals (b)(1) after allegedly torturing his puppy over a span of several months, causing unjustifiable pain and suffering which ultimately resulted in her death — a felony of the third degree.

Nichols was located and arrested in Johnson County where he was booked into Johnson County Jail and held on a $200,000 bond.

On June 6, SPCA of Texas’ Animal Cruelty Investigations (ACI) Unit Chief Investigator was contacted by the ever-diligent Hunt County Sheriff’s Office in reference to a deceased puppy that was discovered inside a dumpster at a Greenville apartment complex.

The small tan puppy was found lying on her side in a medium-sized crate. She was emaciated and had sharp, overgrown nails.

An SPCA of Texas Investigator took the puppy to the SPCA's Russell E. Dealey Animal Rescue Center for a forensic necropsy. The exam showed the puppy was 5.5 months old and weighed only 7.6 pounds when she died. She perished due to long-term starvation and dehydration, and had suffered for a prolonged period of time.

The puppy had a microchip, which revealed that she had been adopted by a Dallas resident from a North Texas animal shelter in January 2025. The puppy, named Sandy, was rehomed to Nichols on February 13 through a rehoming website that allows potential adopters to be screened prior to rehoming. (The release does not identify the adopter or explain why the adopter was dumping the puppy after only a month of ownership.)

Nichols signed a contract stating that he agreed to “care for the pet in a humane and responsible manner and to provide him/her with clean and adequate shelter, food, water and veterinary care.”

The SPCA of Texas ACI Unit confirmed with Nichols that the dog had been in his care. Interviews with Nichols and other witnesses revealed evidence that the dog had been neglected over a span of months and left to die in the crate without food or water.

“No animal deserves to suffer in silence the way this puppy did. The evidence indicates that she was trapped, neglected and ultimately starved to death over a span of months,” said SPCA of Texas’ ACI Unit Chief Investigator Courtney Burns, CAWA. “The level of cruelty in this case is staggering, and the SPCA of Texas and Hunt County Sheriff’s Office are committed to ensuring justice is served.”

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