SAN ANTONIO — Bexar County voters turned out in record-setting numbers in the opening days of the early vote period this week, to the tune of 241,655 ballots cast through Friday.
That amounts to about 18.6% of Bexar County's registered voters for the November election.
Jacque Callanen, Bexar County's elections administrator since 2005, said Thursday the early turnout was the strongest she'd seen in her time overseeing voting in the county.
"We've never seen numbers like this. We're ecstatic," Callanen said. "Our judges are doing such a fantastic job out there. We keep sending them staff and more staff. We’ve got to figure out how to at least give some of those hard workers a few hours off so they can recoup.”
The first day of early voting on Monday ended with her elections team sharing on Facebook that they serviced 48,820 residents, an early-voting record. They followed that up by breaking the 50,000-voter mark for the first time on Friday.
There's a small caveat, aside from the high-stakes atmosphere surrounding the U.S. presidential race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump: Texas has registered 1.67 million more voters this year compared to 2020, including 106,207 more in Bexar County, according to Texas Secretary of State data.
Still, if you think you're seeing longer lines at the polls this year, you might not be imagining it. The first five days have averaged more than 48,000 early in-person ballots a day, compared to the daily average of 33,165 early voters in the presidential election.
But Saturday and Sunday tend to see lower in-person turnout during the early vote period, and Callanen expects that to happen again in 2024. She said Thursday that the Northwest Vista College polling site has been the busiest this week (more than 1,900 voters on Friday) while Macedonia Baptist Church, the Southside ISD Administration Building and the East Central ISD Administration building have seen some of the shortest lines on a daily basis.
"From our standpoint, keep telling people to be pleasant, be prepared," she said, reminding residents to also be aware of the ballot propositions they're being asked to weigh in on before heading to the polls.
The sheriff, meanwhile, is reminding the public to stay calm and civil at the polls after an "ugly" incident Thursday evening where a voter allegedly assaulted an elections clerk at Johnston Library. According to authorities, Jesse Lutzenberger punched a poll worker who reminded him that wearing attire for a candidate while voting violates Texas election rules; Lutzenberger put on a red "Make America Great Again" hat at the site after casting his ballot, according to records.
“This has been an especially contentious election cycle, I think everybody can attest to that,” said Sheriff Javier Salazar, who is running for reelection himself this year. “There’s no sense picking up a criminal case or injuring somebody in the name of politics. We can’t tolerate it.”
Early voting runs through Nov. 1. Make sure you're prepared by checking on what you need to bring here.