Tips for voting on Election Day

Last-minute election day preparations are underway.

Travis and Williamson counties tell us how voters can help make sure things run smoothly.

It's the day we've all been waiting for - election day. Voting centers will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

"If you're one second before 7:00 p.m. then you get to vote," says Dana DeBeauvoir, Travis County Clerk.

Keep in mind that coming right before the deadline can cause results to be delayed.

Votes can't be tallied until everyone finishes casting their ballot at that polling location.

That is exactly why election officials ask that you come early.

"We will be releasing early voting results right after 7 p.m. So at least we will be able to offer that. Other vote centers will be turning in their ballot boxes, hopefully on time, so we'll produce election results that are brought in from the field as quickly as we can. Usually once a ballot box arrives at central counting, it takes us about 45 minutes to turn out results," says DeBeauvoir.

There are 194 vote centers in Travis County.

Dana DeBeauvoir says there are a lot of places that go under-utilized simply because people don't know about them. There are eight area high schools that have plenty of parking: Lanier, McCallum, Anderson, Elgin, LBJ, Akins, Travis and Bowie.

51-percent of registered voters participated in early voting; which is around 372,000 residents. It is a record turnout for Travis County. Williamson County also saw a record. 53-percent of registered voters turned out for early voting, which is about 163,000 residents. There are 61 voting centers in Williamson County.

That is the main difference this time around compared to the Presidential Election in 2012.

"In 2012 a voter could only go to one specific one, because it was precinct based voting and not vote centers. When we switched to voting centers, we reduced the total number of sites and we've consolidated them but we've placed them on places where there's a concentration of people," says Chris Davis, Williamson County Elections Administrator.

Lines are expected to get progressively longer as the day goes on.

Here are some things to remember: