Early voting in person began today (Monday) and runs through November 2. In general, turnout was brisk, shattering records for gubernatorial general elections and even eclipsing the record-setting turnout of Day 1 in 2016, the last presidential election.
Some preliminary counts from around the state:
- In Harris Co., 63K people voted in person and another 52K returned mail ballots up to and including today. It’s nearly double the number who voted early in person and by mail on Day 1 in 2014 and just short of the 129K cast on Day 1 in 2016.
- In Dallas Co., more than 55K people voted in person and by mail on the first day of early voting, nearly double the number who voted on Day 1 in 2014, but 31% below the number who voted on Day 1 in 2016.
- In Tarrant Co., 61K voted early in person and by mail on the first day of early voting. This is more than double the number of votes cast on Day 1 in 2014 and just 5K short of the number cast on Day 1 in 2016.
- In Bexar Co., just over 34K people voted in person, which is two and a half times the number who voted in person on Day 1 in 2014 and just short of the 35K who voted in person on Day 1 in 2016.
- In Travis Co., more than 47K people voted in person and by mail, which is 30K more than the number who voted on Day 1 in 2014 and a little over 1K more than the number who voted on Day 1 in 2016.
- In Denton Co., nearly 25K people voted in person and by mail, more than two and a half times the number who voted on Day 1 in 2014 and an increase of nearly 3K over Day 1 in 2016.
- In Hidalgo Co., nearly 20K people voted in person and by mail, nearly double the number who voted on Day 1 in 2014 and about 4K short of the number who voted on Day 1 in 2016.
- In Williamson Co., over 23K people voted in person and by mail, nearly triple the number who voted on Day 1 in 2014, and just short of the 24K who voted on Day 1 in 2016.
- In Nueces Co., nearly 12K people voted in person and by mail, double the number who voted on Day 1 in 2014 and nearly 2K more than the number who voted on Day 1 in 2016.
Incomplete numbers from Collin, El Paso and Fort Bend Cos. indicated both were seeing similar turnout to the counties we just highlighted. Sometime tomorrow (Tuesday), we will have complete numbers from the 15 counties with the most registered voters.
In Lubbock Co., more than 9K had voted early in person, quadruple the number who voted in person on Day 1 in 2014. McLennan Co. saw nearly 5K early voters in person today, quadruple the number who voted on Day 1 in 2014 and about 500 voters more than on Day 1 in 2016. Nearly 5K more mail ballots have been received there, also up from 2014 and 2016. Potter and Randall Cos. combined saw more than 5K early voters, easily surpassing the 2014 totals. In Taylor Co., more than 3K people voted in person, slightly more than the number who voted on Day 1 in 2016.
It’s tempting to read too much into these numbers. They may simply be a reflection of people voting earlier than they typically would, rather than a rush of people who do not normally vote in gubernatorial elections.
©2018 Texas Election Source LLC
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