Despite this, because of a sharp increase in total voters registered in recent decades, the overall voter turnout percentage went down compared to 2020.
By the numbers
In an election that saw a race for the U.S. president, several county and state races, as well as a bond for a local school district, voters turned out in record fashion for Brazoria County.
While the election is still unofficial, results as of Nov. 14 showed Brazoria County had 162,766 total ballots cast during the 2024 general election, according to the county’s election results. The county this election cycle had 251,627 registered voters.
Both numbers are records for Brazoria County dating back to at least 1988, which is as far back as the county’s voter registration breakdown goes. However, given the population increase in recent decades, which totaled 191,707 in 1990, according to U.S. census data, it’s likely the highest either total has been.
The voter turnout percentage of 64.69% fell lower than the 2020 turnout rate of 68.69%, according to county documents. One thing to note is that 2020 had an extended early voter period due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
As a result, this year’s turnout rate was the second highest since 1992, which had a voter turnout rate of 75.19%, according to county documents.
Diving in deeper
The early voting totals for the county in 2024 fell short of 2020's early vote totals, according to county documents. The percentage of total votes that came from early voting in 2024 also fell short, county data shows.
Nearly 83% of all votes came from early voting, compared to 2020's roughly 90.5%, county data shows.
Despite the slight decrease, the county has seen a general trend of more votes coming during the early voting period, data shows.