Tuesday marks a new month and the first Election Day of 2022.
“Hopefully, everyone will come out and vote. We want everyone to have their voice heard,” said McLennan County Elections Administrator Jared Goldsmith.
With the general election set for November, experts say this primary plays a large role in deciding the final outcome.
“Only one of those districts are Tulsa between a republican and democratic candidate. The other 37 we have a pretty good idea going into the fall which party is going to win. The winner is determined not in the fall but in the primary,” said Baylor University Associate Professor of Political Science Dr. Patrick Flavin.
Political observers say primaries tend to see lower turnout than general elections, even still McLennan County saw a near regular turnout for early voting.
“Around 13,000 voters. That is on par with what we see in a primary election. Same as say the election two years ago,” said Goldsmith.
Bell County also has a little more than 13,000 ballots and 2,000 mail-in ballots during early voting.
That is a nearly 14 percent increase from the 2018 primary election. Local election officials are hopeful more voters will show up at the polls on Election Day.
