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Fort Bend's Smart Financial Centre will serve as mega voting center for November election

Judge KP George said the idea of transitioning the Smart Financial Centre to a polling place should give Fort Bend County residents easy access to vote.

FORT BEND COUNTY, Texas — Early voting starts Monday and in Fort Bend County, leaders are working to make voting easy and safe for every voter who wishes to cast a ballot.

The county will offer several options to residents who plan to vote in person or by mail.

For instance, Smart Financial Center in Sugar Land has been quiet since the pandemic started, but it will soon come back to life ahead of the Nov. 3 General Election.

“This is going to give access to thousands of voters because it’s an ideal location,” Fort Bend County Judge KP George said.

He announced the concert venue will become an early voting and Election Day mega voting center.

It’s one of 30 early voting locations the county hopes will provide easy access to all residents who want to vote.

RELATED: Nearly 80 Texas counties allowing voters to cast their ballots at any county polling place

The county has also created a task force whose goal will be to maintain the integrity of the election process.

“We will have police officers, investigators, roaming the county to ensure that if we have any incidents of attempted voter suppression that action will be taken against them,” Fort Bend County District Attorney Brian Middleton said.

In addition, county Elections Administrator John Oldham said the best way to vote is in person but mail-in ballots have already started to go out to residents who requested them.

“This is one of the most challenging I’ve ever seen with the social distancing requirements, with the increase in ballot by mail,” Oldham said. “We’ve already processed twice as many ballot by mail applications as we’ve ever done in any previous election.”

Oldham said the county has received more than 32,000 vote by mail applications.

A drop-off location will be available to those who do not want to mail back their ballots.

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