Williamson County residents turned out in record numbers for the 2018 mid-term elections, according to county officials. Out of the top 12 highest populated counties, Williamson County led with a 62.09 percent turnout of the 336,148 registered voters, the county said in a news release. The next highest percentage of voter turnout was Travis County at 61.33 percent, the release said. “This surpasses any other mid-term election we have had regarding percentage of registered voters voting,” stated Christopher Davis, elections administrator for Williamson County. “It surpasses the total number of voters in the 2016 Presidential Election.” The high voter interest led to an increase in voter turnout, but county officials also attribute turnout to a combination of voting encouragement and convenience initiatives. Some initiatives include the county's interactive polling place map that offered wait times and a map of early voting and Election Day locations. The county also promoted early voting through paid Facebook posts to users in Williamson County. The county would “boost” these posts to Facebook users near that mobile location. Also, the mobile voting center traveled around to more rural parts of the county and only stayed at most locations for just one day. The county's Vote Center policy, which allows voters to vote at any polling location in the county, looked to make voting more convenient. “Vote Centers are a tremendous convenience to voters that may work far from their residence to provide voting options to or from work,” Davis said. Find more 2018 election coverage at communityimpact.com/vote

12 Texas counties with highest voter turnout

County: Bexar Total turnout: 548,412 Percent turnout: 49.64 percent County: Collin Total turnout: 355,694 Percent turnout: 61.15 percent County: Dallas Total turnout: 727,371 Percent turnout: 54.33 percent County: Denton Total turnout: 295,676 Percent turnout: 58.73 percent County: El Paso Total turnout: 203,157 Percent turnout: 44.44 percent County: Fort Bend Total turnout: 256,949 Percent turnout: 59.56 percent County: Harris Total turnout: 1,209,358 Percent turnout: 52.41 percent County: Hidalgo Total turnout: 152,950 Percent turnout: 42.14 percent County: Montgomery Total turnout: 191,548 Percent turnout: 57.32 percent County: Tarrant Total turnout: 630,919 Percent turnout: 55.61 percent County: Travis Total turnout: 483,050 Percent turnout: 61.33 percent County: Williamson Total turnout: 208,704 Percent turnout: 62.09 percent