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Lack of early voting sites in rural cities comes down to cost

People who live in Banquete and Agua Dulce have to go elsewhere to vote early.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The small city of Agua Dulce has no early voting location. However, on Election Day, people can go to the Community Center and vote.

One Agua Dulce resident, 90-year-old Allan Schulte, remembers when he first voted in the 1956 presidential election. His vote helped to send then-president Dwight Eisenhower to a second term in office. 

He said he’s looking forward to voting on Election Day.  

3NEWS asked him how he feels about how some residents wish they could early vote in town. 

"I’m okay with one day for voting, but early voting I guess would be nice and convenient for people who cannot make it that’s true," Schulte said. "But who offsets the expenses? That’s the thing about it. It cost money to do things." stated Mr. Schulte

Mary Howard told 3NEWS if there is a will, there is a way. 

"People complain about it, but they can find a way to the grocery store, they can find a way to the voting booth," she said.

Resident Louisa Diaz said she avoids any voting problems by simply staying away from in-person voting. 

"I vote by mail; that’s what I like, voting by mail," Diaz said.

County Commissioner Joe Gonzalez said that the lack of early voting locations does come down to cost. 

"A lot of it has to do with numbers right," he said. "If you’re gonna hire staff to be there two weeks and pay them to be there two weeks and you only get 30 people to come in, I mean, that doesn’t justify it, right?”  

The commissioner also pointed out that the RTA will take residents to and from early voting sites. All they have to do is call the RTA to set up that voting trip 24 hours in advance.  

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