BELTON, Texas — Early voting began Monday across Texas for nearly 16 million people who registered to vote in the midterm elections.
That number is a 4 percent increase from those registered to cast a ballot in the March primaries.
Texas added nearly 2 million registered voters since the 2014 midterms, with young voters helping drive that increase.
In Belton, the lines wrapped around buildings as voters waited to cast their ballots.
Overall in Bell County, over 8,400 voters made their voices heard.
A large number of absentee ballots were cast as well, officials said.
Officials said they expect to be a big surge in voters as polling hours come to a close.
The number of voters Monday was the highest since the 2016 presidential election, officials said.