Early Voting Is Off and Running

Day one of early voting in Travis County was quite impressive. A total of 5,009 people went to the polls Monday, a very solid turnout. Combined with the 2,471 mail-in ballots received, that makes 7,480 total, or 1.37% of Travis' registered voters. Multiply that number over the 12 total days of early voting, and then use the conventional wisdom that Election Day turnout is usually about double that of early voting, and Travis could hit 50% turnout, an excellent showing for a nonpresidential election year. Of course, these first-day totals are probably inflated a bit by those mail-ins, which constituted more than a quarter of the total mail-in ballots sent out by the county. Highest turnout was at the University of Texas (in the lobby of the Undergraduate Library), with 484 voters. Lowest was at the Northeast Health Center, with 56. If you want to cast your ballot now, head to the nearest early voting location.