After reviewing the early voting turnout numbers posted by the Secretary of State today, we re-examined several numbers we reported last night and realized that we made some mistakes.
We obtain same-day voter counts and, in some cases, rosters from county elections officials and calculate comparative turnout based on these figures. Each county reports this information differently. We mis-read crucial aspects of two counties’ reports.
The numbers we reported for Tarrant Co. included ballots that have been mailed to voters but not yet returned to the election office. These should not have been included because these voters have not voted yet (and some may not). The corrected totals for Tarrant Co. are 6,338 Republicans and 5,313 Democrats. Compared to the first day of early voting in 2014, Republican turnout is down 12% and Democratic turnout is up 81%. These figures are more in line with what the other large counties are seeing, but they are not the highest ever seen in the county. Day One turnout was instead the third highest in county history for each party,
For Bexar Co., we transposed the Day One in-person figures for the Republican and Democratic primaries, leading to incorrect comparisons to 2014. When corrected, turnout relative to 2014 is 31% higher for Democrats and 11% lower for Republicans. These are more in line with the other counties.
Finally, we also erroneously described the 15 counties for which the Secretary of State collects daily early voting numbers as the “most populous.” They are the 15 counties with the most registered voters.
We have updated that post. We regret the errors and apologize for providing inaccurate information.
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