Reprint from the Progress Times - February 29, 2008
©Progress Times 2008 - All Rights Reserved

 

Hidalgo County foresees record voter turnout

 

By Jim Brunson

Hidalgo County has long been regarded not only as a Democratic stronghold in the State of Texas, but also as the leading area in terms of voter turnout. The March 4 Texas primary election is no exception.

While leading the state in voter turnout percentage, Hidalgo County appears to be on course to set a new local record for the number of voters participating in a primary election.

In the 2004 presidential primary election, Hidalgo County had 31,619 votes during the early voting period, including mail ballots. This year, the county has already recorded 40,097 early votes as of Wednesday evening, with two days of early voting yet to be posted. 

Most of this year’s early votes—37,734 of them—are in the Democratic primary.

That trend is not unique to Hidalgo County. Statewide, voters are voting heavily in the Democratic contests. Voters who previously voted Republican appear to be crossing over to vote in the Democratic race, where the quest for the presidential nomination is too close to call.

More is at stake in the Democratic primary than the Republican, where John McCain is well ahead of second place Mike Huckabee. On the Democratic side, Barack Obama is giving Hillary Clinton a run for the money, having captured more delegates than Clinton, 1372 to 1274, according to the Associated Press.

Texas voters, for the first time in years, have a chance to make a real difference in selecting the party’s nominee for president. In most presidential primaries, a frontrunner is already established well before the Texas primary in March.

Statewide, as of Tuesday evening, 511,809 voters cast their vote in the Democratic primary. Only 172,858 voted Republican.  

Hidalgo County Elections Department Administrator Teresa Navarro said, "I think the driving force for this turnout is that we have both local and state races on the ballot. The momentum feels different. We have a lot of voters concerned about making sure they do vote and we’re number one in the State of Texas, percentage-wise, for voter turnout."

Hidalgo County leads the state with 12.14 percent of all registered voters casting a ballot in early voting as of Tuesday night. Travis County is second with 11.81 percent, and third is Fort Bend County with 10.96 percent voting.

Hidalgo County Republican Party Chairman Hollis Rutledge said, "For the first time in 30 to 40 years Texas has become a very critical state in determining both the Democratic and Republican presidential primaries. That’s what is driving the election [turnout] in Texas."

Harris County (Houston) leads the state with 1,804,641 registered voters, while Hidalgo County is ninth with 287,988 registered voters. Cameron County comes in 15th with 165,996 registered.

Early voting in Texas began February 19 and ends today, February 29. The polls will remain open until 7 p.m. this evening.

On election day, Tuesday, March 4, polls will be open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.

Navarro said there have been no major glitches in the election thus far.

"We have had a couple of calls regarding election workers, but they have been mostly that the lines are too long, and what can election workers do to make the line go faster.  The ballot is three pages long, and the voter also has to review the ballot, so it does take a while to vote," she said. "There were long lines on the first two days of early voting, but for the most part, voters were patient."