Through the first four days of early voting in Texas, turnout in most of the state’s largest counties is sluggish compared to the 2018 midterm elections. | NachoAguilar
Voter turnout in most of the state’s largest counties is sluggish compared to the 2018 midterm elections.
In Dallas County, 148,367 people voted between Monday and Thursday. Dallas has more than 1.4 million registered voters, so the total there also represents a participation rate of more than 10% in the county. That’s compared to about 223,000, or nearly 17%, of voters who cast ballots during the first four days of early voting in 2018.
“If one party's doing better with early-voter voters, they're going to say, ‘Let's keep up the momentum.’ If the other party's not doing as well, they're going to use it to say: ‘Early voting numbers are down. We know you're registered, come out on Election Day,’” he said. But he added that neither party should panic based on this week’s totals.
Smith said one explanation for the less-than-stellar turnout so far is that voters in 2018 were more motivated by top-of-the-ticket contests. In Bexar County, 144,588 people have cast ballots in person or by mail. Bexar County has 1.2 million registered voters, which breaks down to about a 12% participation rate so far. By this point in 2018, about 153,000 — or about 14% — cast ballots in the first four days of early voting.