Approximately 19% of Travis County’s registered voters went to the polls in the first week of early voting for the 2022 midterms, per reports from Austin-based media outlets.
Austin CBS affiliate KEYE and Austin NBC affiliate KXAN reported that the turnout was less than that of the first seven days into early voting in the November contests four years ago.
The 2022 election – the second major race in the State of Texas and the U.S. since the COVID-19 pandemic began – includes, but isn’t limited to races for governor, lieutenant governor and a slew of congressional seats.
According to KXAN, St. Edward’s University (SEU) political science professor Dr. Brian Smith said that the election for U.S. senator between incumbent Ted Cruz, a Republican, and Democrat Beto O’Rourke factored into the higher turnout in 2018.
Smith, who’s also the associate dean of SEU’s School of Behavioral and Social Sciences, told KXAN that O’Rourke, an ex-congressman from El Paso, back then was an “exciting, fresh face” but not so much as the latter attempts to unseat Gov. Greg Abbott.
Per Smith, the same could be said about the current aspirants for public office.
“There aren’t a lot of other exciting races in the state when we look at Texas with all its congressional districts,” he told the station.
KEYE reported that about 25,000 of the county’s voters cast their ballots every day from Monday, Oct. 24 to Friday, Oct. 28 while close to 17,000 voted on Saturday and a little over 10,000 the next day.
Citing the Travis County Voter Registrar, the station reported that midterm elections usually see close to a 40% voter turnout, with 62% having gone to the polls in 2018.
Austin Journal reported that Attorney General (AG) Ken Paxton formed the 2022 General Election Integrity Team last month to ensure the current race is run transparently and securely.
Paxton, a Republican seeking reelection, said in a press release issued by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) that the team acts as a “focused resource” to both election officials and the public, according to the publication.
The last day of early voting is Friday, just four days before Election Day.