Travis County early voting turnout tops 16%, exceeding 2016 and 2012 numbers

After more than 30,000 Travis County voters came out to the polls on the final day of early voting Feb. 28, overall early voting turnout reached 16.03%, exceeding early turnout numbers the past two primary presidential elections.

According to numbers released by the Travis County Clerk’s office, 131,920 registered voters in Travis County have already filled in their ballot, including 123,701 in person. A majority of those voters came out on the final three days of early voting from Feb. 26-28.

In 2016, early voting turnout in the county was 13.9%, and in 2012, it was 6.1%.

The Travis County Clerk tweeted Feb. 29 that early turnout broke records. While the 131,920 voters is a new record overall, it was not a record for early voting turnout percentage. In 2008, 116,207 county voters came out to the polls early—20.9% of registered voters. As the area’s population has grown over the last 12 years, the number of registered voters in the county ballooned from 555,865 to 822,720.

The two most-visited sites in Travis County for early voting were both in North Austin—the Ben Hur Shrine Center on Anderson Lane had 7,782 votes and the Randalls grocery store at Research Boulevard and Braker Lane recorded 7,734. The Briarcliff Property Owners Association Community Center in Spicewood was the least-visited early voting site with 686 votes recorded.

With a crowded field for the Democratic race for presidency leading the ticket, Democrats made up 82.6% of early voters in heavily blue Travis County.

Election Day is March 3, with polls open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Travis County voters can vote at any polling location. To see a sample ballot of the candidates running for office in this year’s primary election as well as a list of Election Day polling places, visit the county clerk’s website.