Posted on 10/20/2004 6:24:21 AM PDT by Theodore R.
1st day sets voting records
BY NANCY MARTINEZ Times staff writer
One ballot at a time, hundreds of thousands of voters in Texas rewrote history Monday, casting more votes on the first day of an early voting period than ever before, state and local officials confirmed Tuesday.
Laredo's 1,577 voters Monday, described by officials as moderate when weighed against the 97,076 people registered to vote in Webb County, didn't break any records, but local officials say they're optimistic about the overall turnout.
Tuesday, elections offices across the state were buzzing with calls from people seeking information on voting sites. For some, it was almost overwhelming.
"There's no doubt that the interest in this election has surpassed our expectations," said Teresa Navarro, Hidalgo County elections administrator. "We have been bombarded with phone calls and voters."
A record was set in Hidalgo County, where 4,570 voters voted in person Monday. There are 269,000 people registered to vote in the county, whose county seat is McAllen.
Navarro said her department took notice of the growing voter trend in the last presidential election, and tried to prepare.
"We hired extra staff, opened a phone bank where 15 people man the phones, and we hired extra clerks for the polls, but it's not enough," she said. "We need more."
Navarro said she expects to set more records toward the end of early voting.
"That (record) will be surpassed in another day," she said. "This county is notorious for waiting until the last three days to vote."
According to the Texas Secretary of State Web site, more than 145,000 voters in Texas's most populated counties voted Monday, compared to an estimated 84,800 who cast ballots in the 2000 presidential election.
"Counties are reporting some phenomenal numbers," said Jonathon Black, spokesman for the Secretary of the State. "There are 12.9 million registered voters in Texas. We like to see voter turnout reflect that."
Bexar County almost doubled its early voting turnout compared to 2000, from 7,814 to 15,375.
In Taylor County, where there are 81,640 people registered to vote, a record-setting 2,626 voters voted on Monday.
"Everyone's excited about this presidential race," Kristi Allyn, Taylor County elections administrator in Abilene, said Tuesday afternoon.
Brad Beheler, McLennan County elections specialist, said Waco saw more early voters on the first day than normal. He said 5,065 people voted Monday. There are 130,000 people registered to vote in the county.
"We usually don't see that many voters until the end of the election," he said.
Elections officials in Victoria County, which has 54,738 people registered, said they saw hundreds more voters on Monday than usual.
"There were 1743 total voters [on Monday]," Elections Administrator George Matthews said Tuesday. "I don't remember us ever having more than that. On the first day of early voting we usually see 400 or 500 voters."
Other counties reporting record numbers included Harris, Dallas, Tarrant, Travis, El Paso and Nueces.
In Webb County, more voters cast ballots on Tuesday than on Monday. Tuesday's tally was 1,797. Added to Monday's figure, the total so far is 3,437.
Webb County Democratic Chair Roberto Balli said Tuesday afternoon he hopes that trend of increase in early voting will continue.
He's holding out for the end of early voting or Election Day to break records.
"Some people think Webb County has a low voter turnout, but it's not true," Balli said. "I'm not surprised with Webb County's turnout in early voting. Historically in Webb County, people come out to vote on Election Day.
"People in Webb County have realized in that last six years that they need to vote, and they're really excited about this presidential race," he said.
The single-day record for early voting in Webb County was set on Nov. 1, 2002, when 3,511 people voted, said Interim Election Administrator Oscar Villarreal.
In the March 2004 Democratic and Republican primaries, voters were close to that record when 3,280 people voted in a single day, he said.
Webb County Republican Chair Esther Buckley said she was disappointed with the county's turnout on the first day.
Buckley, a teacher at Cigarroa High School - an early voting site - said she is saddened to see the small turnout of voters.
"The clerks are just sitting there," she said Tuesday afternoon. "I think [early voting] needed more publicity," she said.
But Bill Green, head of the Yes! I will vote! Committee and publisher of the Laredo Morning Times, said Tuesday most media outlets in Laredo were doing their part to focus on the elections.
"Sometimes we get criticized for overkill," Green said. "It's in the newspaper on TV and radio everyday.
"We all have that one common goal: to maximize the vote."
In addition to print and broadcast, the get-out-the-vote campaign also has gone online.
A Yes! I will vote! link on the Laredo Morning Times Web site (www.lmtonline.com) provides access to a database of the names of all the people registered to vote in Webb County. The database is updated daily to highlight the names of those who have voted.
Early voting will continue until Oct. 29. For information on early voting sites, visit the Laredo Morning Times Web site and click on the Yes! I will vote! icon.
(Times staff writer Nancy Martinez can be reached at 728-2538 or nancy@lmtonline.com)
10/20/04
Dead people vote: Up 12%. Illegal alien vote: up 22%. </sarcasm>
I will check what the numbers are here, BRAZORIA COUNTY, TX, on the gulf coast. I have to vote early because I will work at a polling place on Nov. 2. My 20 year old son will work then too. He needs to learn the inside out of elections. His first president to vote for! My daughter's first pres. election, too. She is 21. Oldest son is 23 and he voted for Bush last time. I will ask our Repub. chairman how the early vote is going here and will post later today.
Thanks for posting the thread~!
Williamson County reported to have 5,559 people voting early yesterday. My bet would be that 5,000 + were Republicans.
early voting may end up helping republicans ... many early voters would have voted on election day anyway (e.g. diehard voters and/or people working/volunteering on election).
However, it may encourage the "apathethic" republican voter ... i.e. I don't have time (because of work, other obligations, etc.) ... meanwhile, democrats typically (I'm steroetyping) usually have time to vote on election day ...
:>) plbbbbbbbbb
Sounds like an invasion of privacy and violation of the "secret ballot" principle to me!
Furthermore, since Texans are registered by party affiliation, this is tantamount to an early release of election results.
Is this actually legal?
No, they are not. That is just not a true statement. They do keep track of what primaries you vote in, and if you vote in a partisan primary, you can't change parties for any run-off, but you get a clean voter registration card every two years.
Most of the counties listed are democrat, either in the valley, Austin, or urban.
How so? Who voted has always been a public record. In no way does it show HOW you voted.
Furthermore, since Texans are registered by party affiliation, this is tantamount to an early release of election results.
News to me. I'm 55 and have voted in Texas since I was 21, even when I lived overseas and have NEVER registered with a party. Fact is there is no way in this state to do that. Your vote in a primary determines your party but other than runoffs you can switch back and forth as you wish.
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