Cameron County voters are taking advantage of early voting, and Elections Administrator Remi Garza expects the number of people voting early to increase as election day nears.
As of Wednesday, 5,335 individuals had taken advantage of early voting for the March 1 primary election during the first three days of early voting. Of that number, 3,828 ballots were cast by Democrats and 1,507 for Republicans.
Garza said the numbers of Republicans turning out for early voting this year is impressive given the fact that in 2018 only 529 ballots had been cast in the first three days of early voting.
“Both parties are about a thousand voters higher at this point in the early voting period than they were in 2018,” Garza said. “It’s pretty significant for the Republican Party given that they had approximately 500 voters in 2018 and they now have 1,500 voters.”
Garza believes the increase in Republican votes is due to competitive races on the ballot that will generally produce a higher turnout. “Candidates getting their message out, reminding voters that early voting is happening.”
Some of the Texas offices on the ballot include that of governor, attorney general, the Texas Senate and House of Representatives, and state board of education. Some of the Cameron County offices on the ballot include county judge, county clerk, county commissioners, justices of the peace, a new district court judge and party chairs. There’s also a U.S. House of Representatives seat up for grabs.
Garza said his office is seeing people taking advantage of early voting and he encourages them to do so. During the early voting period which ends on Feb. 25, registered voters can cast ballots at any of the 18 early voting locations in the county. On March 1, they will have to go to their designated precinct to vote.
The locations with the highest early voting numbers as of Wednesday include the Brownsville Public Library with 1,591 votes, the Harlingen County Annex with 655 votes, the San Benito Community Building with 524 votes and the Harlingen Culture Arts Center with 400 votes.
Voters must present some type of photo identification at the polls. This includes a Texas drivers license, Texas ID card, Texas handgun license, Texas election identification certificate, all issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety, a U.S. Passport, a military identification card with a photo, and a U.S. Citizenship Certificate with a photo.
Pandemic protocols are still being practiced that include social distancing, cleaning of the polling places, the placement of plastic barriers between the voters and the sanitization of pens used in the voting booths.
Curbside voting will be provided to those who need it. “Only people who are eligible for curbside voting will be allowed to vote out of a car,” Garza said.
