Early Voting continues for the November 6 general and constitutional amendment election through November 3. Turnout continues to be very light across most of the state. Through Sunday, the seventh day of early voting, just over 1.2% of registered voters had cast ballots in person or by mail in the state’s 15 most populous counties.
Among those 15 counties, turnout has been highest in Hidalgo Co., where 3.1% of registered voters had cast ballots in person or by mail through Sunday. Seven cities there have contested elections. Travis Co. is second at 2.3%. Voters there will decide the fate of a $1B school district bond package, the largest anywhere in the state, and a pair of county transportation bond packages. Voters statewide have seven constitutional amendment propositions on their ballots. Voters in about five dozen counties have been asked to approve about $11B in bond propositions, and local offices are on the ballot in a few dozen school districts and mostly small municipalities.
Turnout in the state’s most populous counties ranks fourth out of the last eight odd-year November general elections (Number in parentheses is final turnout for the election):
- 2.35% in 2015 (8.30%)
- 2.05% in 2005 (13.82%)
- 1.71% in 2013 (6.14%)
- 1.22% in 2017
- 1.20% in 2003 (9.31%)
- 1.09% in 2007 (6.31%)
- 0.90% in 2011 (3.77%)
- 0.88% in 2009 (5.77%)
Odd-year turnout is significantly lower than even-year general elections. In November 2016, 27.3% of registered voters in the state’s 15 most populous counties had already voted in person or by mail through the first week of the early voting period. In November 2014, nearly 9.8% of registered voters had cast ballots during the first week of early voting.
©2017 Texas Election Source
