Tarrant County early voting turnout for May election nearly doubles 2019 numbers
Nearly 92,000 people voted early in person in Tarrant County for Saturday’s election, outpacing early voter turnout during the May 2019 election.
Voters are deciding municipal and school board races as well as a congressional seat that represents much of Arlington and Mansfield.
Voters in Fort Worth will pick between 10 candidates to decide who they want to serve as mayor, following Mayor Betsy Price’s announcement she would not seek reelection. The ballot also includes three council districts without an incumbent. In Arlington, voters will also elect a new mayor and fill four council seats.
The special election for Congressional District 6, as well as the Fort Worth and Arlington mayoral races are likely driving much of the voter turnout, said Elections Administrator Heider Garcia. Garcia hopes the bump in turnout will extend into future local elections.
“A lot of topics that people talk about are decided by local authorities,” Garcia said. “School in person or school remote in the context of COVID, police funding, that kind of thing … a lot of it has got to do with local races.”
Early voting for the joint general and special elections ended Tuesday, with 91,580 people casting ballots in person — Tarrant County’s highest number of in-person early voters for a May election in at least a decade, according to Tarrant County Elections Administration numbers. Additionally, 6,852 mail in ballots had been returned as of Tuesday.
There are roughly 1.17 million registered voters in Tarrant County, putting turnout at just under 8% thus far.
In 2019, Tarrant County reported 49,134 in-person early voters for the May 4 joint general and special election. The election as a whole saw 8.35% voter turnout, according to official results.
The current election’s early voting numbers don’t come near those seen in the November general election when President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump were on the ballot. Leading up to the election, there were more than 666,500 in person early voters. The election as a whole saw roughly 70% voter turnout, official results show.
The race for Congressional District 6 has drawn national attention as 23 candidates vie for the seat previously held by late U.S. Rep. Ron Wright. Wright died earlier this year after battling lung cancer and COVID-19, triggering the special election. The North Texas district spans southeast Tarrant County, including most of Arlington and Mansfield, as well as all of Ellis and Navarro counties.
In that race, 45,365 people have voted early in-person and by mail, according to the Texas Secretary of State’s office. That includes 31,117 voters in Tarrant County, 12,128 in Ellis and 2,120 in Navarro.
In Tarrant County, Tuesday was the busiest day of in-person early voting when 27,048 people cast ballots. The early voting site at Southlake Town Hall was the most trafficked overall during the nine-day in-person early voting window — 7,994 voted at the polling place.
On Saturday, voters in Tarrant County can go to any vote center. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
“It’s the form of government that’s closest to you, and one that has direct impact on a lot of things, especially in a state that has so much authority concentrated on local government,” Garcia said.
Voter guide
Visit star-telegram.com for a guide to the elections in Fort Worth and Arlington.
This story was originally published April 28, 2021 at 10:55 AM.
