Dallas County tops 600,000 ballots as statewide turnout surpasses 7.1 million, fueled by a fiercely contested Senate race.
By Aarón Torres
Dallas Morning News
https://www.dallasnews.com/
AUSTIN – Dallas County voters set a midterm early-voting record, casting more than 600,000 ballots and helping Texas shatter its previous statewide mark.
More than 7.1 million Texans voted early in person, according to the secretary of state’s figures published Saturday, although not all counties had reported their totals after early voting ended Friday.
That surpasses the previous record, set in 2018, of 5.5 million early in-person votes in a nonpresidential election year. Texas has added about 3 million registered voters since then.
The surge comes as Republican Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico wage a fiercely contested Senate race. The early vote count excludes mail ballots and does not identify voters by party.
Turnout jumped across the state’s larger counties compared with 2018:
- Harris: More than 1 million votes, up 35%.
- Dallas: More than 607,880, up 23%.
- Tarrant: Nearly 572,000, up 32%.
- Collin: More than 374,000, up 38%.
- Denton: About 319,000, up 47%.
- Travis: More than 427,000, up 22%.
- Bexar: About 503,000, up 33%.
Both parties have made aggressive last-minute pushes to motivate Texans, zigzagging the state in competing get-out-the-vote tours.
Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday. Anyone in line by closing time will still be allowed to vote.
Austin Bureau
Aarón is an Austin native who writes about immigration and state politics. He is a University of Texas graduate, Spanish is his first language and is a dual citizen of Mexico and United States.
