Voters have finished casting their ballots in the 2020 primaries across Texas, and the numbers are in from 99% of the counties — San Saba is the only one yet to report.
Compared to the 2016 March primary, which was the country's last presidential election cycle, the number of registered voters is much higher.
All four of North Texas' most populous counties saw a substantial rise in the number of Democratic voters during the presidential primary.
The same can't be said for Republican primary participation across North Texas. With an incumbent president running for re-election in 2020, the party saw much lower levels of participation than it had in 2016.
Below is a breakdown of the numbers of the four biggest counties.
Dallas County election results
In Dallas County, 125,466 more people registered to vote for the 2020 primary compared with 2016, meaning registration for the country was about 10% higher than that of 2016.
More Democrats participated, while Republicans saw fewer voters cast ballots in the presidential primaries.
Compared to the Democratic presidential primary four years ago, 72,602 more voters showed up this year.
But in 2016, 91,818 more voters cast ballots in the Republican presidential primary than in 2020.
For context, Dallas County had an estimated population of 2,646,173 in 2018, which was the most recent year of data available from the Texas Demographic Center. The county's estimated population in 2016 was 2,591,002, so it had a population growth of 2.13% in two years.
Tarrant County election results
Tarrant County also had an increase in voter registration compared to 2016, with 141,223 more registered voters in 2020, an almost 14% increase.
More voters came out for the Democratic presidential primary, though, with 48,236 more ballots cast in 2020 than 2016.
The same could not be said for the Republican primary, which saw 91,191 fewer voters cast a ballot compared to 2016.
For context, Tarrant County had an estimated population of 2,052,267 in 2018. Its estimated population in 2016 was 1,984,677, meaning the county population grew about 3.4%.
Collin County election results
Collin County experienced a surge in registered voters, with 103,916 more in 2020 than 2016. That's an almost 21% increase.
Collin saw the same kind of numbers as Tarrant when it came to the Democratic presidential primary, with 44,316 more voters casting a ballot in 2020.
In the Republican primary, 47,767 fewer votes were cast this year compared to 2016.
For context, Collin County had an estimated population of 1,003,919 in 2018, while its estimated population in 2016 was 959,054, meaning the county had grown by about 5% in the two years.
Denton County election results
Denton County had a huge rise in registered voters as well. The county now has 95,596 more registered voters than it did in 2016, around a 22% increase.
Denton matched Collin and Tarrant in both of the presidential primary results, with 34,586 more voters turning out in 2020's Democratic primary. There were 29,439 fewer Republican ballots cast this year compared to the 2016 primary.
The county had an estimated population of 851,828 in 2018. The estimated population in 2016 was 805,292, meaning the county was about 6% larger in 2018.
By the numbers:
Dallas County
- Registered voters in 2016: 1,217,771
- Registered voters in 2020: 1,343,237
- Number of Democratic votes in 2016: 159,086
- Number of Democratic votes in 2020: 231,688
- Number of Republican votes in 2016: 175,122
- Number of Republican votes in 2020: 83,304
Tarrant County
- Registered voters in 2016: 1,019,633
- Registered voters in 2020: 1,160,856
- Number of Democratic votes in 2016: 104,440
- Number of Democratic votes in 2020: 152,676
- Number of Republican votes in 2016: 213,993
- Number of Republican votes in 2020: 122,802
Collin County
- Registered voters in 2016: 500,059
- Registered voters in 2020: 603,975
- Number of Democratic votes in 2016: 40,034
- Number of Democratic votes in 2020: 84,350
- Number of Republican votes in 2016: 116,676
- Number of Republican votes in 2020: 68,909
Denton County
- Registered voters in 2016: 429,934
- Registered voters in 2020: 525,530
- Number of Democratic votes in 2016: 32,506
- Number of Democratic votes in 2020: 67,092
- Number of Republican votes in 2016: 96,060
- Number of Republican votes in 2020: 66,621
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