Early Voting Ends Friday

Early voting for the Nov. 3 Election Day issues in Van Zandt County ends Friday at 5 p.m.

Van Zandt County Clerk Charlotte Bledsoe said 389 voters had been counted through the end of the day Monday.

"We have definitely had more out of Precinct 1 than any of the other precincts," she said, referring to the local option election for alcohol sales on the Precinct 1 ballot.

Bledsoe estimated around 45 percent of early voters have been Precinct 1 residents.

Early voting continues through Friday in the Van Zandt County Courthouse’s Law Library, located on the basement floor.

Entry to the courthouse will end at 5 p.m. on Friday. Bledsoe said those in line to vote by 5 p.m. that day will be allowed to vote.

Election Day voting on Tuesday will take place from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. at the regular poll locations within Precinct 1 and within combined poll locations in the other three precincts.

Voters in Van Zandt County Precincts 2, 3 and 4 are being reminded that most voting locations in those precincts are being combined for the Nov. 3 Election Day.

Van Zandt County Clerk Charlotte Bledsoe said the state constitutional amendment election generally draws a low voter turnout. That makes the cost of operating all of the regular voting locations in the county unfeasible.

"Where we have been able to consolidate voting locations for this election, we looked at factors like accessibility to the buildings," said Bledsoe. "The ones we’ve selected are very easily accessible places that are on the ground level and very visible."

The county could not consolidate any voting boxes in Precinct 1 because the state does not allow for it when a local option election is being held, Bledsoe explained.

Two other voting boxes in Canton — Box 23 at the Canton Senior Citizens Building and Box 24 at the First United Methodist Church — are remaining on their own as well.

The following voting boxes (and their regular locations in parentheses) will be consolidated at the following locations on Nov. 3:

Consolidated into Box 3 at Phalba Independent Church: Box 2 (China Grove Church), Box 21 (Jackson Baptist Church) and Box 26 (Tundra Baptist Church).

Consolidated into Box 12 at Farm Bureau Auditorium in Canton: Box 4 (Teel Church of Christ) and Box 19 (Myrtle Springs Community Center).

Consolidated into Box 13 at Wills Point Community Center: Box 5 (St. Mark’s CME Church) and Box 10 (Edgewood Church of Christ).

Consolidated into Box 11 at Ben Wheeler Fire Department: Box 7 (Van Community Center), Box 8 (Edom Community Center) and Box 9 (Martins Mill ISD Board Room).

Some voters at the above locations also will be involved in special elections for the city of Canton or for Mabank ISD.

Precinct 1 voting locations are as follows: Box 1 at East Center Baptist Church, Box 6 at Grand Saline Chamber of Commerce Pavilion, Box 18 at Pruitt Baptist Church, Box 20 at Randall Hall in Fruitvale and Box 28 at the Edgewood Civic Center/Senior Citizens Building.

All early voting begins Monday and continues through Oct. 30 in the Van Zandt County Courthouse Law Library (located in the basement level) Mondays through Fridays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

Anyone needing information on where to vote on Election Day should contact the county clerk’s office at (903) 567-6503.

Precinct 1 voters are making a decision on whether to allow alcoholic beverage sales in that part of the county, which includes Edgewood, Fruitvale, Grand Saline and a small portion of northeast Canton.

There are three options on the ballot, one for beer and wine sales for off-premise consumption, one for all alcoholic beverages for off-premise consumption and one for mixed beverages sold by food and beverage certificate holders, also known as liquor by the drink in restaurants.

Canton residents voting in this election also have a local proposition on their ballot for a Type B sales and use tax regarding the use of that revenue for infrastructure related to water supply facilities.

Canton Election Day voting polling places will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the following locations:

Precinct 1: East Center Baptist Church Fellowship Hall located at 4523 Farm-to-Market 1652 in Grand Saline.

Precinct 12: Farm Bureau Auditorium located at 281 East Highway 243 in Canton.

Precinct 23: Senior Citizens Building located at 200 West Groves Street in Canton.

Precinct 24: First United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall located at 600 South Buffalo Street in Canton.