There has been a significant increase in absentee ballot requests in Dallas County ahead of the November general election.

Dallas County Auditor Julia Helm says so far they have already received over 19,000 requests. Helms says there were around 18,000 ballots sent in for the 2016 general election and 16,000-17,000 in 2018. In addition to the increase in requests, Helm says people have been starting the voting process earlier than usual, “We get drives for voter registration, but it’s been so much earlier in the cycle. We’ve actually had people call saying, ‘I registered to vote, but now I’m moving again, and I’ve already turned in my absentee request. What do I do?’ So it’s been that early that people that actually moved since July, when we can start to take them, that’s not so normal. We’re so early in the process still, which is great because it’s getting us prepped, so we’re not hit when we have to turn it around in 24 hours.” 

Absentee ballots will begin to be mailed out on October 5th. Helm recommends waiting at least a week before contacting the Auditor’s Office if your ballot hasn’t arrived at that time, as they can only confirm whether or not it’s been mailed out. Absentee ballots can be cast via mail or in-person at a satellite location through Monday, November 2nd. You can find a list of satellite locations in Dallas County and more information about absentee voting here.