Another large crowd of people who opted for early voting arrives in OKC on the second day

OKLAHOMA CITY — The rush of early voters at the Oklahoma County Election Board, Edmond and across the state showed little sign of abating on Day 2 Thursday.

When Free Press visited the Board of Elections site on N. Lincoln in OKC between 3 and 4 p.m. Thursday afternoon, the line stretched halfway to Lincoln in the parking lot, just as it did on Wednesday, the first day.

The first person we spoke to shortly at 3 p.m. went to his car and said he had already been waiting in line for “an hour and twenty-two minutes” before voting.

As we headed to the front door just before the final turn, we spoke to several people who said they had waited about 50 minutes to an hour.

Tori seemed to be in good spirits as she said she always votes early instead of waiting until the last day.

The self-described African-American woman had a dark reason for making sure nothing came between her and the election.

“Too many people fought too hard for the right to vote” for her to take it easy, Tori said.

Two friends, Tasha James and Cameron Doan, said their work schedule would not allow them to get to their local precinct on Tuesday, a common comment from those waiting to vote early.

So far, neither the federal government nor states have made Election Day a holiday, which would pave the way for more people to vote on that day.

Because of this reality, early voting policies and schedules in all 50 states are important to voter turnout.

We chatted to three people who were chatting amiably after meeting at the end of the queue about 45 minutes earlier.

Michelle said she would vote early on Tuesday because of her work schedule.

“I just always do it because I think it's the quickest and easiest way to vote,” Barbara said.

Tom is a poll worker in a different county than his own, so there was some necessity for him to vote early, he said.

We asked him if he had had any negative experiences as a subway poll worker, and he quickly replied that he had “only had good experiences doing it.”

Using the numbers

On Thursday, October 31, the second day of early voting, at 4:28 p.m., the Oklahoma State Election Board reported:

In Oklahoma County

• 29,472 mail-in ballots were received.
• 14,052 mail-in ballots were received.

Across the state of Oklahoma

• 91,011 mail-in ballots were received.
• 144,370 mail-in ballots were received.

More choices

Early voting continues across Oklahoma on Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Tuesday is Election Day and local precincts are open for voting from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. If you are in line when the polls close on Election Day, you will stay in line and you will still be allowed to vote.

You can view a sample of your specific ballot at OK voter portal. Enter your name and date of birth and the system will provide your specific voter information. You can also see your voter status.

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Founder, publisher and editor of Oklahoma City Free Press. Brett continues to contribute stories and photos to this site as he runs the company.