Early voting in person is underway across the state. We have not seen many turnout reports yet, but what we have seen suggests heavier than usual, even historic, turnout for the first day of early voting.
- In Bexar Co., more than 35K voted early in person on Monday, about 5K more than the first day in 2012 and 6K more than in 2008.
- In Collin Co., nearly twice as many people voted early on Monday than on the first day in 2012.
- In Dallas Co., it was reported that more than 58K voted in person and by mail on Monday, which is nearly 26K more than the first day in 2012 and 24K more than in 2008.
- In Denton Co., nearly 16K voted early in person on Monday and another 5K ballots by mail were received up to and on that date, totaling 21K early votes cast. This is about 5K more than the first day in 2012 and almost 8K more than in 2008.
- In El Paso Co., about 8K more people voted early today than on the first day of 2008, the previous record.
- In Harris Co., almost 67.5K voted early in person on Monday and another 61.5K ballots by mail were received up to and on that date, totaling 129K early votes cast. This is 42K more than the first day in 2012 and nearly double 2008.
- In Hidalgo Co., more than 18.5K voted early in person on Monday and another 5K ballots by mail were received up to and on that date, totaling 23.5K early votes cast. This is almost 10K more than the first day in 2012 more than double 2008.
- In Lubbock Co., first-day early voting is up about 30% from 2012.
- In Montgomery Co., almost 12.5K voted early in person on Monday and another 8K ballots by mail were received up to and on that date, totaling nearly 20.5K votes cast. This is nearly 5.5K more than on the first day in 2012 and 9K more than in 2008.
- In Tarrant Co., more than 43K voted early in person, which is about 13K more than in 2012 and 15K more than in 2008.
- In Travis Co., 35K voted early in person on Monday and another 11K ballots by mail were received up to and on that date, totaling 46K early votes cast. This is more than double 2012 and about 13.5K more than the record-setting 2008 first-day turnout.
- In Williamson Co., more than 18K voted early in person on Monday and another 6K ballots by mail were received up to and on that date, totaling 24K early votes cast. This is double the number cast on the first day in 2012.
Sometime tomorrow (Tuesday) we should have statistics from the Secretary of State for the state’s 15 most populous counties.
Record day-one turnout does not necessarily translate into record turnout. In 2014, early voting turnout was setting records for gubernatorial election cycles before momentum fizzled, and fewer Texans ended up voting early in 2014 than in 2010. Overall, turnout (early voting and Election Day) for 2014 finished more than 5% lower than in 2010. There was also record day-one turnout in 2012, when 9% more Texans voted early in person or by mail than during the first day of 2008. By the end of early voting, turnout was 4% lower than in 2008, and overall turnout (early voting and Election Day) fell by 1%.
