DALLAS — Election leaders are hopeful that more Texans will turnout on Election Day. Across the state early voting turnout was low. For example, in Tarrant County, only 8% of voters have cast a ballot so far.
The numbers are especially interesting in a year with many big political names on the ballot, like Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and Attorney General Ken Paxton. The incumbents need more than 50% of the vote to avoid a runoff.
“It’s a relatively small number of Texans who are picking our candidates for the general election and that is generally not a good thing,” SMU political science professor Cal Jillson said. “And that means it’s very difficult to judge who turned out and who they are likely to vote for and whether incumbents will be forced into a runoff.”
Jillson said Abbott and Patrick are likely to avoid a runoff but a race to watch is Attorney General Paxton, who has faced ethical questions and legal challenges this term.
“That’s why you’ve got George P. Bush, Eva Guzman and Louie Gohmert, the congressman from East Texas, challenging him in the Republican primary because they think, they hope there might be blood in the water,” Jillson said. “Ken Paxton is running ahead but there are a lot of undecideds. It was looking like George P. Bush was going to run second and go into the runoff with Paxton, Eva Guzman has been moving up so some people wonder whether she might not get by George P. Bush and get in the runoff with Paxton.”
That’s why the turnout on Election Day will be so critical.
“There won’t a line so don’t expect any kind of delays,” Bruce Sherbet, Collin County's elections administrator, said. “It’s a Tuesday so it’ll be a little bit heavier turnout in the morning, before work voters, and after 5 o' clock, those are the two more heavily voted periods of time. Otherwise, you’ll be able to walk straight in.”
Sherbet is hoping for thousands more voters to show up, but he says he’s pleased with the turnout thus far.
“We’re tracking pretty close to what we would see from four years ago which is probably an expected turnout of about 19%, in a primary election that’s a good turnout,” Sherbet said. “It’s not like a general election where you get 70% turnout but it’s a good steady turnout.”
He reminds voters that just because it’s a primary does not make it any less significant.
“It’s as important of an election to vote as any election you vote in,” Sherbet said. “We encourage anyone to participate in the process. If you don’t vote, it’s hard to complain.”