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Shell_Seas

(3,454 posts)
Mon Mar 4, 2024, 11:32 AM Mar 2024

Texas Early Voter Turnout Report

If you haven't voted yet, don't forget that Super Tuesday is tomorrow.

https://www.lonestarleft.com/p/texas-early-voter-turnout-report



In 2020, well-meaning folks were sure Democrats would “flip the Texas House” based on primary election turnout. However, it’s important to remember that primary turnout doesn’t dictate November turnout. That matters in 2020, and it matters now.

Primary elections are intra-party contests where political party members choose candidates for the upcoming general election. These elections often attract a more engaged, ideologically driven subset of active voters in their parties’ processes. The general election is where candidates from different parties compete against each other. The electorate in general elections is broader and more diverse, including the party faithful who vote in primaries and more moderate and independent voters who may skip primaries but participate in general elections.

I lead with that because I know how easy it is for Democrats to feel discouraged in Texas. But you shouldn’t feel discouraged. You should feel motivated to keep pushing on. We can’t give up, even when we appear defeated (we aren’t).

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flying_wahini

(8,011 posts)
1. I voted on Friday and the poll worker told me that they had been busier than usual this time.
Mon Mar 4, 2024, 11:41 AM
Mar 2024

Fingers crossed.

TwilightZone

(28,833 posts)
2. "primary turnout doesn't dictate November turnout"
Mon Mar 4, 2024, 11:44 AM
Mar 2024

How I wish more people understood that. There is no correlation, but we sure are desperate to try to find one.

https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/presidential-campaign/272381-the-truth-about-primary-voter-turnout/

From your link:

Efforts to mobilize and energize the Democratic electorate need to focus on the long-term goal of changing the political landscape of Texas


This is a very important point. This is not going to be a quick turnaround as many have asserted in recent years. It's going to take a significant effort, and we really need to figure out how to resolve the GE turnout issues on the Democratic side. It also needs to be from the local level on up and not just state/federal races.

Demographics will eventually be on our side, but we have to raise turnout levels for that to be a factor.

AllaN01Bear

(23,047 posts)
3. ding. thanks ,"primary turnout doesn't dictate November turnout"
Mon Mar 4, 2024, 11:47 AM
Mar 2024

if i understand correcty, the pri is to elect delegates to convention.? i ask this in a form of a question.

TwilightZone

(28,833 posts)
6. At the presidential level, yes. For the rest in Texas....
Mon Mar 4, 2024, 12:25 PM
Mar 2024

The primaries determine the general election candidates. Requires a majority. If no candidate receives a majority, the top two go to a runoff.

https://ballotpedia.org/Primary_elections_in_Texas#Primary_election_systems_used_in_Texas

AllaN01Bear

(23,047 posts)
8. thanks . i like the way a town in the usa somewhere does it, playing poker , highest card in hand wins the
Mon Mar 4, 2024, 01:14 PM
Mar 2024

election.

SARose

(830 posts)
5. Texas Early Voter Turnout
Mon Mar 4, 2024, 11:55 AM
Mar 2024

Long time lurker first time poster. Don’t be discouraged if there appears to be a low/lower than Dem turnout tomorrow. In Texas we do not declare a party affiliation when we register to vote. We can vote in either primary. In case of a runoff we must vote in the party primary again. This is a game Texans love to play. Many of my Dem friends and neighbors have or will vote in the Republican primary because there are 13 ballot propositions only on the Republican primary ballot. I chose to vote Dem because I am all in on removing Cancun Ted.

TwilightZone

(28,833 posts)
7. Agreed, and welcome to DU!
Mon Mar 4, 2024, 12:48 PM
Mar 2024

My partner chose the R just so she could vote against Cruz and McCaul and mess with the ballot proposals.

It's just symbolic, of course, but it made her feel good. We're in a district that's about 60% Dem, so other than the Senate race, which Allred seems to have in hand, there wasn't much to be concerned with on that side.

marble falls

(62,063 posts)
14. You must be from a different part of Texas than me ...
Tue Mar 5, 2024, 11:10 AM
Mar 2024

... when I voted early last week, the question they asked after getting my ID was what party I was voting under. For today they will not only ask you what party you declare but Democrats and Republicans are put into a D line or an R line.

They had to reduce the number of polling places this year because they have to have a minimum of four machines per line.

TBF

(34,315 posts)
10. Early voting has been low where I am -
Mon Mar 4, 2024, 01:24 PM
Mar 2024

and it's anyone's guess as to how many cross-over voters there are since we can just cross-over for the primary, we don't have to register in the other party to request the ballot. I would guess quite a few given the voucher issue.

For those who may read this and aren't Texan - a big issue this year is school vouchers & Abbott's hand-picked challengers to run against anti-voucher folks (who he generously funded vis a vie his billionaire pro-voucher friends). Not all anti-voucher folks are republicans, and there are districts dems will not win here because the numbers are just not strong enough yet. So, keeping out those hand-selected pro-voucher folks is key, even if we have to cross over and vote for the moderate republicans in the primary to do it.

LetMyPeopleVote

(154,538 posts)
11. 2020 was a contested democratic presidential primary
Mon Mar 4, 2024, 02:58 PM
Mar 2024

There was no real contest this cycle for presidential primary and the senate race seems to be headed towards Allred

summer_in_TX

(3,213 posts)
12. My county's early vote turnout interests me. Looks like Dems are turning out a little better than Republicans.
Mon Mar 4, 2024, 06:23 PM
Mar 2024

But turnout is low. I hope tomorrow brings the total number of Democratic voters in Hays County moving up in percentage of registered voters casting votes.

That said, it's true that it is hard to know who to vote for in a primary election. It takes much more work because there are so many on the ballot during a primary. I spent a whole lot of time and energy researching, including looking up campaign finance reports, searching out videos, etcetera. Google does not make it easy either.

Our League of Women Voters chapter had a webpage showing all the candidates on the primary ballot for both the Republican and Democratic candidate, from the top of the ballot down to the local constable races. Maybe that helped voters start their research so our county had a little better turnout than the lowest percentage. So many voter research tools don't have all the offices that will be on the ballot, stopping at the district or county-wide races.

redqueen

(115,164 posts)
15. Thanks for this
Tue Mar 5, 2024, 05:45 PM
Mar 2024

I missed early voting so about to head out now. Long wait times far north of Dallas. Hopefully a good sign.

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