AUSTIN, Texas — Early voting for the Nov. 8 midterm elections wrapped up on Friday and turnout was down when compared to the 2018 midterm elections.
According to the Texas Secretary of State's Office, a total of 327,195 voters cast ballots during the early voting period in Travis County. That amounts to nearly 37% of registered voters.
A total of 40,000 fewer people voted early or by mail this election cycle than in 2018. That's despite having more than 100,000 more voters registered than four years ago. Looking at the 2018 numbers, 368,048 voters, or just over 47% of registered voters, participated before Election Day.
In Williamson County, nearly 1,000 more people voted during this early voting period than did in 2018. However, the number of registered voters increased by just over 83,000, meaning voter turnout this time around was about 10% behind where it was in 2018.
As of Nov. 5, after the early voting period ended, 39% of registered voters in Williamson County had cast ballots while nearly 49% had voted at this time four years ago.
It's a similar story in Hays County, where the total number of early voters increased by about 2,500 from four years ago. But as a percentage of all registered voters, turnout was down. This year, turnout was at 39%, and 46.5% in 2018. That's with more than 33,000 new voters in the county.
Voters can still cast their ballot on Election Day, which is Tuesday, Nov. 8. Polls will be open that day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Here's a visual breakdown of early voting totals in 2022 and 2018:
GRAPHS: 2022 early voting turnout in Travis, Williamson and Hays counties compared to 2018
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