Smith County early, absentee votes tallied in Saturday’s election

TYLER — As voters and officials prepare for Saturday’s elections, Smith County releases its final early and absentee voting numbers. The county says 7,746 people cast their ballots early and 1,127 absentee ballots were received by the elections office. That’s substantially up from last May, when early votes totaled 1,650 and there were 64 absentee ballots cast. It should be noted that ballot items were considerably different a year ago. This spring, bond elections are on the ballot for Tyler, Bullard, and Chapel Hill Independent School Districts. Also on the ballot are several races for cities and school districts, as well as constitutional amendments.

Additionally, looking back further, officials point out that in 2020, elections normally held in May were moved to November and bundled with the presidential and other elections because of COVID-19. We’ll have more on elections around the area as Saturday draws closer.