Cameron County’s early voting turnout for the March 3 Primary Election is on pace to exceed 2016 figures, according to Remi Garza, Cameron County elections administrator.
As of last Thursday, early voting totaled 19,369, with 15,820 ballots cast in the Democratic primary and 3,549 in the Republican primary.
The results of the March 3 primary will determine the Democratic and Republican nominees for president, U.S. senators and representatives, as well as state and county officials.
Garza said the elections office does not set specific goals but anticipates voter turnout based on past elections.
“We had thought we would see a turnout equal to what happened in 2016 because it was a very active election cycle and as of right now, we’re well ahead of those figures by approximately 1,500. Almost 2,000 people more have participated [than] … in 2016,” Garza said.
The Brownsville Public Library-Main Branch is the polling site with the most turnout, with 6,076 ballots cast as of last Thursday and Los Indios Community Center has the lowest turnout, with 58. However, Garza said their presence is just as important.
Asked why he thought the library had the highest and the center the lowest, he replied it is due to traffic.
“How people move through their daily lives and whether they’re going by these early voting sites as they go to work,” Garza replied. “We try to provide sites that are on those heavily trafficked roadways and that are accessible so that as you’re coming into town you can easily pull off, vote, and then get back and do what you’re going to do.”
Texas Southmost College is the fifth lowest polling site with 351 ballots cast as of last Thursday in the Democratic election and tied for fourth lowest with Santa Rosa Maria Luisa Ruiz Guerra County Annex Building in the Republican, with 72 votes apiece.
Garza said different factors affect turnout at the college campus, such as class schedules and exams. He said numbers are similar when the polling location was at the UTRGV Brownsville campus.
“Usually, we like to have one week on one campus and one week on the other,” Garza said. “Unfortunately, the [Texas] Legislature changed how we can establish polling sites, early voting sites and we didn’t have the ability to share the polling site, the location. So, we had to select one over the other and so, for this election, we selected TSC.”
He said the Cameron County Commissioners Court and Elections Commission, which consists of the county judge, the county clerk, the county tax assessor-collector and the two local party chairs, made the decision, but the location might change for the November elections.
“That’s not necessarily going to be the case when the November election comes around,” Garza said. “They may decide that they would like to try it on the UTRGV side and see how the traffic is there.”
For Tuesday, the elections administrator said the elections office expects a voter turnout in the range of 30,000 to 35,000 for the Democratic primary and 7,000 to 8,000 for the Republican.
The office does not release results until about 15 minutes after polling locations close at 7 p.m. so that people who may still be in line when polls close will not be influenced by the results.
Garza expects a tremendous turnout for Election Day, Nov. 3.
“During 2016, we had almost 97,000 ballots cast … and we think that’s going to move even higher,” he said. “I really think we will have a significant number of votes over the 100,000 mark this time.”
Charles Olney, a political science assistant professor at UTRGV, said early voting is a good indicator of what total numbers will look like in terms of turnout.
Asked why some people cast a ballot during the early voting period and some do not, Olney replied that on Election Day, voters have to go to their specific precinct.
“[It] can be sort of a hassle versus early voting, [where] you can go to any location in the whole county, and I know for a lot of people that convenience can be really helpful,” he said. “And also, you can plan whatever day happens to be convenient for you.”
Olney said that for the first time in a long time, there is a serious challenge to Eddie Lucio Jr., who is seeking re-election as state senator and has been in office since 1991. But, he believes Lucio will win due to familiarity and experience.
The assistant professor said voter turnout in Cameron County tends to be lower than in Hidalgo County, due to Hidalgo’s population being larger in terms of eligible voters, but there are other factors, too.
“Generally, turnout is pretty low among communities of color, communities where people don’t speak English as a first language, communities that are a little poorer and Cameron County does have a bit more of all of those things,” Olney said. “So, it’s not surprising that that would be the case but it’s pretty similar. I don’t think that there’s significant shifts, differences between Cameron and other counties of the Valley.”
Olney believes it is important for students to vote as a matter of civic engagement.
“One of the benefits of living in a democracy is that you get to have the opportunity to try and, you know, play a role in politics and pay attention to what’s going on around,” he said. “We talk a lot about national politics but the stuff that really affects peoples’ lives is generally decided pretty close by.”
Danilo Castillo Hernandez, a political science freshman, plans to vote in the primary and general election in November.
Although Castillo will not participate in early voting, he believes it is important to do so in order to increase the number of people who go out and support.
“If people see that you are out supporting, it can motivate others to do so and join because they see the importance of people voting,” he said.
Castillo said that if there were a polling location at the university, he would have considered participating in early voting.
“Don’t make assumptions and really try to get as much information as you can from all the candidates and to really understand what you’re going for,” Castillo said.
Julyana Lerma, a communication science and disorders freshman, also plans to vote during both elections.
“I think it’s important because you get to vote for the right person,” Lerma said. “Let’s say a president ends up winning and then he does, like, something bad about it and then you don’t get to have an opinion about it, so then you start feeling bad if you don’t vote.”
She said she would like to see a polling location at the university.
“Everybody should have the chance to vote,” Lerma said. “It can change our world.”
