SAN ANTONIO — Despite record-setting heat and the pandemic, Bexar County residents are turning out in spades to get their vote counted in the 2020 primary election runoff.
According to county elections officials, a total of more than 100,000 ballots have been cast in the election as of 4 p.m. Tuesday, between early voting and Tuesday returns. That amounts to a 9% turnout as of now.
"Which is fantastic," said Jacquelyn Callanen, Bexar County Elections Administrator. "Today's been a super day for this election."
The number of ballots cast so far is an outlier when compared to the last decade, which has seen primary runoff totals as low as 26,420 votes in 2010 and just over 27,000 in 2016.
121,000 ballots were cast in the 2019 summer runoff election, which saw Mayor Ron Nirenberg winning another term over the Republican challenger, Greg Brockhouse. The eventual runoff election totals, expected to arrive after polls close at 7 p.m. Tuesday, may surpass that number. Tuesday's ballot includes races for a trio of U.S. House seats, as well as determining the Democratic challenger to face incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn in November.
Of the more than 220 polling stations situated around the county on Tuesday, Callanen says 29 of them have seen fewer than 25 voters so far. Meanwhile, elections officials have had to do some last-minute adjusting this week after some judges decided they would not work the polls, due to coronavirus fears.
"I'm not holding it against them," Callanen said. "It was some last-minute juggling on our part. But it's absolutely understandable—these are strange times.”