Voters in central Texas turned out to vote early, off the ballot in the 2020 election — the last time a presidential race was on the ballot.

It is slightly distorted from the early voting period in 2020 has been extended beyond the normal two-week period due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Travis County Clerk Dyana Limon-Mercado said voter turnout in the county is nearly on par with the 2016 presidential election.

By the end of the day Friday, about 480,000 people, or nearly 52 percent of Travis County’s registered voters, had cast ballots. Most of those votes were cast in person, while about 17,000 were postal ballots.

By comparison, in 2020, about 64 percent of registered voters, or about 550,000 people, voted early during the extended early voting period, according to data from the Texas Secretary of State’s office. In 2016, about 51 percent of registered voters headed to the polls early.

Limon-Mercado expects the county to process between 100,000 and 200,000 voters on Election Day.

“Voters should expect to wait in line, but anyone in line by 7pm will be able to cast their vote,” she said. “My office remains committed to making voting accessible and easy for all eligible voters in Travis County. … We have done everything we can to ensure there are no barriers to participation in this election.”

Travis County is also faces a lawsuit from the Travis County Republican Party, which claims the county is not following bipartisan staffing rules at polling places. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals threw out the lawsuit last week, but the Travis County GOP has appealed to the Texas Supreme Court.

Limon-Mercado said her office will wait for the Texas Supreme Court to rule and “will not let this lawsuit and other types of political distractions from the Republican Party stop our efforts to administer our elections.”

“We have great teams of bipartisan poll workers,” Limon-Mercado said. “Not only at the polls, but here in our office at our central counting process, ensuring the integrity of our elections and that all election laws are followed.”

For more information on what races are on the ballot in Travis County, be sure to check out KUT Travis County Voter Guide.

Hays County

Hays County officials saw a record turnout in the first week of early voting, but turnout dipped in the second week.

A total of 103,988 voters cast their ballots during early voting, which includes in-person and mail-in ballots. That’s about 56 percent of registered voters, down 8 percent from turnout in the 2020 presidential election.

Although voter turnout is lower, voter registration in Hays County is up about 22 percent since 2020, and elections administrator Jennifer Doinoff said that’s due to the region’s population growth.

Hays County saw 5,700 more early votes cast this year than in 2020.

For more information on what races are on the ballot in Hays County, be sure to check out KUT Hays County Voter’s Guide.

Williamson County

More than half of registered voters in Williamson County cast their ballots during early voting.

By the end of the day Friday, nearly 59 percent of the suburban county’s 447,711 registered voters had cast their ballots. Most of these votes were cast in person. Just over 9,000 ballots were mailed out.

That’s about 10 percent lower than Williamson County’s early voter turnout during the last 2020 presidential election.

“I think the excitement, right now, is sustained in the presidential race and also in our local sheriff’s race,” Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell told KUT. “We have an incumbent (Democratic) sheriff, and he has a Republican challenger.”

Gravell said the county plans to open 82 polling places to voters on Tuesday, Election Day. That’s more than three times the 25 polling stations the county has opened for early voting.

“You’re literally going to be able to go to multiple locations tomorrow where there’s no waiting,” he said.

For more information on what races are on the ballot in Williamson County, be sure to check out KUT Williamson County Voter’s Guide.

The polls will be open tomorrow from 7am to 7pm. Voters in line at 19:00 can still vote. The wearing of political attire such as hats, t-shirts and buttons in the polling place is not permitted.