The Texas Secretary of State has permanently approved countywide vote centers for Tarrant County.

Countywide vote centers allow voters to cast ballots at any polling place on Election Day.

It was first tried in the Nov. 5, 2019 election when more than 50 percent of voters cast their ballots at a polling place other than their own precinct.

“Based on our review of Tarrant County’s reports and public comments, we hereby certify that Tarrant County conducted a successful countywide polling place program in the November 2019 election,” said the Secretary of State’s Director of Elections Keith Ingram in a letter to Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley.

“As a result, Tarrant County is authorized to continue to hold its elections using countywide polling places subject to the approval of county commissioners court,” Ingram said.

For a constitutional amendment election in Tarrant County, voter turnout was at its highest level since 2005.

Early voting for the March 3 Texas primary election begins on Feb. 18.