Early Turnout Passes 30 Percent in a String of Texas Counties, While Bexar Stands at 24.27 Percent in the State-Reported Figures
More than a dozen Texas counties have already passed 30 percent early turnout in the Secretary of State's reported figures, compiled Tuesday — while Bexar County's state-reported share, 24.27 percent, trails the county's own higher local count because state reporting lags.
The share of registered voters who have already cast early ballots has passed 30 percent in a string of Texas counties, according to a Tuesday compilation of the Secretary of State's county-reported figures. Among the big counties, Tarrant County reported 387,172 votes (31.52 percent), Travis County 297,298 (31.42 percent) and Denton County 221,814 (32.24 percent).
The state's most populous counties sit lower by percentage: Harris County recorded 626,914 votes (22.83 percent), Dallas County 416,018 (27.85 percent), Collin County 218,991 (27.77 percent), Fort Bend County 164,853 (28.34 percent) and El Paso County 106,459 (20.05 percent). Bexar County's state-reported figure is 321,728 votes, or 24.27 percent — with the compilation's own caveat that local totals will be higher, because reporting to the Secretary of State's office lags. Bexar's own in-person count, reported by this station on Monday, already stood at 328,008 through day eight on its own.
Around San Antonio, the percentages run higher: Kendall County, just north of the city, reported 33.61 percent, Hays County 32.44 percent and Comal County, home to New Braunfels, 30.12 percent. The highest shares in the compilation are in smaller counties — Llano County at 39.7 percent, Kenedy County at 39.41 percent, Blanco County at 38.45 percent, Jeff Davis County at 38.27 percent and Kinney County at 37.45 percent.
The percentages measure ballots cast, not how they were marked, and the county figures will keep being revised as late reports reach Austin. In-person early voting runs through Friday, Oct. 30, and Election Day follows on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
