Bexar County early voting turnout down 13% so far from 2018 midterms, election administrator says

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More than a week of early voting has passed in Texas, and 244,878 voters have so far cast a ballot in Bexar County.

On Tuesday, the ninth day of early voting, 27,378 people made their way to the county’s 51 early voting locations.

Elections administrator Jacque Callanen said the turnout so far has been less than 2018?s midterms.

“They’re down 13%, so that’s sort of surprised us,” Callanen said during a news conference on Wednesday, adding that registration increased by 11%. “We’ll see. Notoriously the last two days of early voting are the busiest, that’s when everyone decides to make their choices.”

The elections department has received 61% of mail-in ballots.

Callanen said she hopes to see at least 500,000-550,000 voters in this election. In previous elections, about 65% of total votes were cast during the early voting period.

Callanen said there has been an uptick in the number of poll watchers, and they’re typically on site for about a half hour, either at the opening or closing of polls.

Voters can choose any of the polling sites during early voting, but data from the elections office shows some locations were busier than others.

This midterm season, more than 1.2 million registered voters in Bexar County are making decisions on the local to the federal level, as there are cities with charter amendments and school districts with bond elections. You can see the full Bexar County ballot here.

If haven’t had a chance to vote early, you can do so until Nov. 4, or on Election Day on Nov. 8. See a list of early voting locations below.

There were seven polling centers with 1,000 voters or more each on Tuesday, and all were libraries. These were the busiest polling places on Tuesday:

There were three polling places with fewer than 100 voters on Tuesday. The Frank Garrett Multi-Service Center saw 61 voters, Elmendorf City Hall had 78 voters, and Our Lady of the Lake had 95 voters.

Below is the full list of Bexar County polling locations with the total number of voters at each on the ninth day of early voting. Mail-in ballots, which are expected to increase significantly this election year due to the pandemic, are not included in these figures.

Registered voters can vote at any polling site during the early voting period from Oct. 24 to Nov. 4, or vote at any polling site on Election Day on Nov. 8.

Some voters may be eligible to vote by mail. (You can read more about absentee/mail voting here.)

For the Nov. 8 election, the last day to register to vote in Texas was Oct. 11.

If you’re not sure if you’re registered, you can click here to check.

There will be 51 polling places open daily throughout the early voting period.