El Paso County sees record early voting turnout as Election Day nears

EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14/CBS4) — With Election Day two weeks away, thousands of El Paso County voters have already gone to the polls to cast ballots early, pushing in-person early voting to a record-breaking start for the November midterm election.

According to the El Paso County Elections Department, more than 17,500 ballots were cast on the first day of in-person early voting. That surpassed the first-day totals from recent election cycles, including 11,787 ballots cast in 2022. The previous record was set in 2018, when 17,236 ballots were cast on the first day of early voting — the year former El Paso Congressman Beto O’Rourke was on the ballot challenging Texas Sen. Ted Cruz for his seat.

See below for the list of early voting locations:

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Voters at early voting sites said they were surprised by the turnout.

“There were a lot of people, it was actually really impressive to see how many people came out because in earlier years we haven’t seen that many people come out and make their voices heard,” Amelia Esquivel said.

Hyung Lae Park, a political science professor at El Paso Community College, said polarization may be driving more people to vote as soon as early voting begins.

“People tend to vote early more and more, because of polarization, people already made up their voting choice even before the election; they don’t have to wait until Election Day. As soon as early voting sites open, they cast their ballots,” Park said.

Paulina Carr reports on El Paso County sees record early voting turnout as Election Day nears (Credit: KFOX14)

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Some voters said they are voting early to make sure their vote is registered under early voting results and to avoid crowds on Election Day.

“I think it’s important to get out and vote, and I just vote early to avoid the crowds. I usually vote early every year,” Robert Williams said.

Antonio Valles said he believes more people should participate. “Not a lot of people vote because they believe their vote doesn’t matter. It’s important to vote for who is representing us at every level of Congress,” Valles said.

Early voting runs from now until Oct. 30, with Election Day being held on Nov. 3.

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