Felix Sylvester drove straight to the Houston polling place after hours and only took a few minutes to vote without having to queue, because it was only 3am.

The parking lot next to the polling place was empty, only with high pressure lights.

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Felix Sylvester, 65, voted at 3 o'clock, after an eight-hour shift on October 30 Photo: New York Times

Sylvester works at a grain warehouse in the Port of Houston.

"That makes it not easy to vote now, because if I work at night, I have to sleep during the day," he said.

The 2020 election has something in common with the 7-Eleven convenience store system, which is open 24 hours a day.

In Harris County, the third most populous county in the United States, home to Houston, the government has worked hard to get voters to vote at 2 a.m. as if at 14 p.m., to increase the ability of people to vote among

Actual numbers suggest this effort was not meaningless.

Nocturnal voters are diverse, from students to retirees, men and women, gay or not, parents taking their children with them, workers who still wear name tags.

Leslie Johnson, 29, an employee of an oil services company, went to the polls after finishing her job.

Richard Munive, 33, a bar bartender, son of a Colombian immigrant, ends work time at 1:30, changes his shoes to work and goes to the polls at 2:30, a few hours before starting his secondary job.

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A concert was held near NRG Arena to attract people to vote at night Photo: New York Times

There are three overnight polling stations located near the old Astrodome district at NRG Park, the Tracy Gee community center in an ethnically diverse neighborhood north of Chinatown and a facility in the old Kashmere Gardens' neighborhood.

Many voters at those polling stations are of color, Hispanic or Asian descent, the majority claim to be Democrats and vote for Joe Biden.

Sylvester, a native of Trinidad Island in the Caribbean, finishes work at 2 o'clock and goes to the polling station after learning that the polling station is open 24 hours a day.

"I vote for the winner," he said.

Malea Hardeman, 24 years old, usually works from 7am to 7pm.

"I had a headache trying to vote," Hardeman said.

Hardeman voted at an overnight polling station in the NRG Arena, when a concert organized by Move Texas, a civil rights group, to get people to the polling stations at night was just over.

Bun B. For, Houston-based famous rap singer, was the concert's focal point.

Hollins, 34, is Harris County's youngest and first black secretary.

Over the years, Texas Republican leaders have sought to tighten state electoral regulations such as through the ID card legislation and many other measures.

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Jahaziel Ramos, 7 years old, with his mother Juanita, went to the polls at a place in Victory Houston in Houston on October 30 Photo: AP.

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Despite the legal battle, Harris County voters surpassed the number of early voters in 2016, with 1.4 million voters voting in person or by mail before the deadline for early voting.

"There are many long-term residents in this county and across the country who work irregularly at regular hours, living a different lifestyle than the average person for good reasons," Hollins said.

The overnight polling station west of Houston near Chinatown has something nothing else has: free tacos.

Jovany Ramirez, 19, still wore his Burger King uniform when voting at 1 o'clock.

"Voting is like medicine, both reflect access," Davis said.

Sometimes things go fast, but sometimes things pass slowly.

And then, just before 4:00, Brittany Hayes, 33, came and left in minutes.

"I work at night, usually finishing work at 9:30 p.m., when every polling station is closed," said Hayes, who works as a customer service representative and mother of two, calling himself a night owl.

In the cold parking lot, Hayes grabbed the American flag blanket she'd always kept in her car, wrapped tightly around her right after voting, but long before dawn dawned.