HARRIS COUNTY, Texas \u2013 Harris County is leading the state of Texas in early voting, posting record-breaking numbers ahead of Election Day.<\/p>\n
As of the latest figures, at least 362,534 people in Harris County have already cast their ballots. By comparison, Dallas County has recorded close to 199,000 votes.<\/p>\n
More Democrats voting early, but experts urge caution<\/p>\n
Rice University political science professor Mark Jones said more Democrats are voting early than Republicans \u2014 and points to the U.S. Senate race as a possible key factor driving turnout. The contest pits Democrat James Talarico against incumbent Republican Ken Paxton.<\/p>\n
Jones told KPRC 2 News the Republican Party needs to do more to mobilize its voters.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou need to look at those numbers with some caution. While Democrats are turning out at a higher rate than Republicans in the first few days of early voting, that one that doesn\u2019t mean that Democrats are going to turn out than Republicans during the entire early voting period, or that we are going to see a disproportionate level of turnout by Republicans on Election Day,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n
Democrats eye independent voters<\/p>\n
For Democrats, some said the path forward runs through independent voters.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat Democrats need is to be able to counter that, by running up the score where they are and by enticing people who have soured on Donald Trump or who weren\u2019t previously engaged but are mad about things to come out and vote,\u201d Charles Kuffner, Democratic blogger said.<\/p>\n
Republicans push voters to cast ballots now<\/p>\n
Republicans are also urging their supporters not to wait until Election Day.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s certainly not a planned effort for people to wait, that\u2019s why you are hearing candidates and campaigns begging their people to go vote,\u201d said Ed Emmett, a fellow at Rice University\u2019s Baker Institute for Public Policy. \u201cI think a lot of people are turned off this year too, and they don\u2019t want to go vote. Frankly, that hurts incumbent office holders, and right now the incumbent office holders are republicans at the state level.\u201d <\/p>\n
Emmett also told KPRC 2 reporter Sandy Torres early voting clarifies where both parties need to go. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt is going to force candidates in the future to say okay we are going to start being positive and pay attention to a wider group of voters than we have in the past,\u201d said Emmett.<\/p>\n
Some voters said they\u2019re happy to cast their ballot early after previously being Election Day traditionalists.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome people are traditionalists and they just want to wait until election. I used to be like that, but I don\u2019t think it makes a difference. I really don\u2019t,\u201d one voter said.<\/p>\n