Early Voting Numbers: Texas Passes 2.8 Million Ballots as National Turnout Tops 23 Million
More than 23 million Americans had voted as of Oct. 23, according to the University of Florida's Election Lab — and Texas, at more than 2.8 million early votes, already stands at 35 percent of its total 2022 midterm turnout.
Texas voters are turning out at a pace well beyond the last midterms. More than 2.8 million early votes had been recorded in Texas as of Oct. 23, according to the University of Florida's Election Lab figures carried in national reporting Saturday — more than in Florida (nearly 2.2 million), Georgia (approaching 1.5 million) or North Carolina (exceeding 1.2 million). Nationwide, more than 23 million Americans had cast ballots in person or by mail by Oct. 23, and a separate tracker cited Saturday put the national figure at nearly 24 million.
The pace is the story. Early votes in Texas already equal about 35 percent of the state's total 2022 midterm turnout, reporting on the Election Lab data said, with Georgia above 40 percent of its 2022 total, North Carolina at 33 percent and Florida at 27 percent. In Texas, where voters do not register by party, analysts model the electorate instead: Decision Desk HQ estimated that of approximately 2.06 million ballots cast in person or returned by mail through Thursday, 44.3 percent came from Democratic voters and 43.7 percent from Republicans, with Democrats outnumbering Republicans by roughly 2.5 to 1 among Hispanic early voters, according to reporting by The Hill carried Saturday.
Travis County is running hot. More than 158,000 residents cast in-person ballots during the first four days of early voting, approximately 61 percent more than at the same point in 2022 and 19 percent more than in 2018, according to state election figures compiled by the county Democratic Party and carried in the same reporting. University of Houston political scientist Brandon Rottinghaus cautioned in that reporting that Democrats need urban margins large enough to overcome rural margins, and described a "slight purple tinge to the turnout so far."
The analysts' caveat travels with the numbers: early participation shows enthusiasm, not which candidates voters chose, and Republican voters have historically been more likely to wait until Election Day. Early voting in Texas runs through Friday, Oct. 30, ahead of Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 3 — and Bexar County's Saturday hours, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at 58 sites, are the longest day of the first week.
