Early voting in person begins tomorrow (Monday) and runs for 12 days through November 2.
Turnout on Day 1 includes all mail ballots received up to and including that day. That, combined with initial enthusiasm of people wishing to vote as quickly as possible, causes Day 1 to be one of the highest early vote days.
Turnout on Day 1 has increased each of the last three gubernatorial election cycles. In 2014, a record 241K early votes were cast in the 15 counties with the most registered voters, an increase of nearly 62K from 2010 and nearly triple the number of votes cast on or before Day 1 in 2006.
The chart shows early votes cast each day for the 2006, 2010 and 2014 general elections. For reference, the 2016 general election is also shown. More votes were cast on and before Day 1 in 2016 than in 2006, 2010 and 2014 combined. We’ll update this chart with each day’s numbers as they are reported to the Secretary of State.
Texans have taken increasing advantage of early voting over the years. In 1998, early voters cast 28% of ballots in the governor’s race. In 2010 and 2014, more than half of all votes for governor were cast early.
Texans are also increasing their use of ballots by mail. In 2014, more than 211K votes were cast by mail in the 15 counties with the most registered voters, up from 135K in 2010 and 74K in 2006.
GOV: The Houston Chronicle endorsed Gov. Greg Abbott (R).
LTGOV: The Houston Chronicle endorsed Democratic challenger Mike Collier over Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R).
SD10: The Fort Worth Star-Telegram endorsed Democratic challenger Beverly Powell over Sen. Konni Burton (R-Colleyville).
HD5: The Tyler Morning Telegraph endorsed Rep. Cole Hefner (R-Mount Pleasant).
HD71: The Abilene Reporter-News endorsed Rep. Stan Lambert (R-Abilene).
SEN: The El Paso Times endorsed U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-El Paso) over Sen. Ted Cruz (R).
CD19: The Abilene Reporter-News endorsed U.S. Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Lubbock).
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