Alejandra Yañez | THE RIDER
As of Thursday, 27,001 voters had cast their ballots in early voting at the Cameron County polling sites, officials reported.
During the first week of early voting for the Nov. 3 presidential election, Cameron County reported the highest first-day voter turnout in its history, with 10,985 ballots cast on Tuesday.
The turnout on Tuesday was almost a 60% increase from the November 2018 elections, when Cameron County reported 6,975 voters on the first day.
The total number of early voters per day are
–Tuesday: 10,985
–Wednesday: 8,634
–Thursday: 7,382
All week long the Brownsville Public Library Main Branch on Central Boulevard has led the polling locations in voters for the county.
On Tuesday the library led with 1,520 early voters, 1,431 on Wednesday and 1,226 on Thursday.
As previously reported by The Rider, Remi Garza, the Cameron County Elections Administrator, said he was excited about the record-breaking first-day voter turnout.
“This is a fantastic development,” Garza said. “To see this level of participation is extremely encouraging for our community.”
He said voting early is important because it provides the convenience of having different locations to choose from.
“When you only vote on Election Day, you are limiting yourself to a specific location with specific hours,” Garza said. “Early voting gives you that flexibility to take your time and to find the polling place that best serves you, as opposed to on Election Day.”
Early voting ends Oct. 30.
