CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Early voters in Bee County have to buckle up this week at the polls in order to cast their ballot. The only early voting location in Bee County is the Expo Pavilion.
For the first week they're only offering drive thru voting. This is how it works.
When you pull up in your car to the voting site your car will be checked for any political signs or stickers. Then the line is divided by people voting or dropping off a ballot.
"Then you can drive right through to vote,’ said Laura Warnix, Bee County Election Administrator. “Stay in your vehicle. The clerks and the judges will come to you and if you're here to do a ballot by mail you'll drop it here and take off out the exit gate."
Although a simple process, it took voters a long time to get through the first day. Ashton Garza-Mckinney said he waited in line for two hours, but it was well worth it.
"My first time ever voting was seven years ago, I was overseas because I joined the military as soon as I turned 18, so this was a pretty good experience," said Garza-McKinney.
Further down the line was the Vannoy family. They say they waited in line for three hours.
"Well this was a pretty long wait,” said Benjamin Vannoy. “I got five kids in the car and the baby is crying and screaming and stuff, but I'm glad we came out to vote.”
Vannoy said the overall experience could've been smoother. "Maybe they could’ve had a little bit more voting stations to make it go a little faster," said Vannoy.
Starting next week Bee County said they'll be offering walk up in-person voting. 3News reached out to the Texas Secretary of State to ask why drive thru voting is currently the only option in the county but have not heard back.