Early voting ends today
Today is the last day of what has been, by most measures, an extraordinary early voting period. Voter registration surged across the state and in Hays County, and thus far, so has voter turnout. The Secretary of State’s office shows that in the 2014 midterm election, 39,331 Hays County residents cast ballots for governor; this early voting period surpassed that number before Tuesday. The Texas Tribune reported that by the end of the day on Tuesday, 45,812 Hays County voters – 34.1 percent of the county’s registered voters – had cast their ballots, and according to the county elections office another 3,315 people voted on Wednesday.
After the Texas Civil Rights Project issued a demand that the county reopen an early voting site on campus and provide an on-campus Election Day polling place, Hays County approved the resumption of early voting at the LBJ Student Center for yesterday and today. To provide balance among the county’s precincts, the county also resumed early voting at the Live Oak Clinic/health department on Broadway Street in San Marcos for yesterday and today and opened an early voting location at the Belterra Welcome Center in northern Hays County. The county’s decision prompted a commendation from U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, who praised the commissioners “for responding promptly in a bipartisan way to calls of many local community leaders by removing practical barriers to our neighbors voting.”
Doggett added, “Other jurisdictions across America would do well to stop raising voting barriers by following Hays County’s example. Thanks to the Texas Civil Rights Project as a valued watchdog, and congratulations to MOVE Texas for continued success in moving more young Texans to the polls. Now let’s eat em’ up, Cats!”
Other early voting polling places open today are the Hays County Government Center, the Precinct 2 Office in Kyle, the Wimberley Community Center, the Precinct 4 Office in Dripping Springs, Buda City Hall and Kyle City Hall. All sites are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. today; Hays County residents can vote at any early voting site in the county. More election information, including Election Day schedules and polling locations, can be found on the county's website.
As of the end of the day Tuesday, the Texas Tribune reported, more than 3.3 million Texans voted early in person and almost 335,000 had cast mail-in ballots in the 30 counties where most of the states’ registered voters live. Hays is one of those.
