Travis County early voting hits record

449,556 ballots were cast in Travis County during the early voting period for the November 3 midterm election, setting a new record for the area.

Unofficial results from the Travis County Clerk’s Office indicate that these early ballots, cast in person and by mail, represent 47.39% of the county’s 948,567 registered voters. When combined with votes cast on Election Day, total participation reached 552,560 ballots. This puts the unofficial turnout rate at 58.25%, a figure that surpasses the 51.99% recorded in 2022 but falls short of the 63% seen in 2018.

The breakdown of early voting shows that 430,859 voters cast ballots in person, while 18,697 used the mail option. An additional 101,766 ballots were recorded on Election Day itself. The previous midterm high for early voting in Travis County stood at 349,045 ballots, a figure established in 2018 according to the Texas Secretary of State’s Office.

Dyana Limon-Mercado, the Travis County Clerk, stated in a November 3 news release that her team was honored to serve voters who showed up in record numbers. The election followed a statewide data glitch where more than 35,000 voter registrations submitted through the Texas Department of Public Safety failed to reach the county. Some of these registrations were delayed for nearly a year, though the county’s voter registrar confirmed the backlog was cleared as of October 14.

The final totals remain unofficial until the canvass process is completed by November 17. The county will continue to count domestic mail ballots postmarked by 7 p.m. on November 3 and received by 5 p.m. on November 4, as well as overseas ballots received by November 9. Provisional ballots will also be reviewed by the Tax Assessor-Collector’s Office and the Early Voting Ballot Board.

Runoff elections for local races are scheduled for December 12, according to the Texas Secretary of State’s Office.