SAN ANTONIO — Tuesday was the last day of early voting for the May 1 election in Bexar County. More than 75,000 people had cast a ballot before polls even opened for the day.
“Probably a lot of them were just like us thinking there wouldn’t be a line on the last day of early voting, but it was probably the longest line out there,” Crawford said.
Robert Crawford made it home from a trip just in time to make the last day of early voting at Brookhollow Library, which is the largest source of votes in Bexar County with over 6,000.
“Since 8:00 this morning, the lines have been all the way past the library doors,” said Alia Garcia, a volunteer who traveled from El Paso to help out with one of the city council campaigns.
“It’s very encouraging because most of the time, especially during an off-year,” Garcia said. “When it’s not a presidential year, it’s really hard to get the vote out.”
On the ballot are San Antonio Mayor and City Council seats as well as two ballot initiatives.
Proposition A amends the city charter to allow the city to issue bonds (borrow money) for public improvements.
Proposition B repeals the city’s adoption of the Texas Local Government Code Chapter 174, which grants police collective bargaining rights.
Proposition B seems to be the main driver of turnout.
“This is what people are here for, it seems like, the other races are not as close,” said Tennille Shaw, a volunteer with Fix SAPD, who had petitioned to get Prop B on the ballot.
Volunteers for and against Proposition B, relating to collective bargaining for police, have been outside polling locations trying to make their case to voters.
“The results that I looked at looked like we’re definitely gaining ground; we’re gaining attention,” Shaw said.
San Antonio Police Officers Association President Danny Diaz said that as Election Day approaches, he doesn’t want his members getting complacent.
“I’m not letting ourselves get confident,” he said. “We gotta work hard, no matter what.”
More information on the election can be found here.