TYLER, Texas — Rain or shine, early voting turnout is setting records in Texas and around the country.
Smith County is the largest county in East Texas, so unsurprisingly, more votes have been cast in Smith County than any other in the region. Between mail-in and in-person, based on data from the count and the Texas Secretary of State’s Office, we know that 65,801 Smith County residents had voted by the end of the day Sunday.
Gregg County was next with more than 34,397 votes cast. In Angelina County, 22,481 people had voted, while no other county had tallied more than 20,000 votes.
But the number of ballots cast does not tell the whole story.
In Gregg County, 47.2% of registered voters had already taken part in this election, ahead of the 45% turnout in Smith County. That places them both inside the top 20 among Texas’s large counties.
Locally, Van Zandt County had the lowest voter turnout as of Sunday, with just 30.5% of registered voters getting their ballots in.
High voter turnout is praised because it means more Americans are taking part in the democratic process, but just how high is the turnout so far? To answer that, compare the current data with data from the 2016 election, the last time a presidential race was on the ballot.
By the end of the weekend, Smith County had reached 77.6% of its total turnout from 2016. Gregg County, just as it had the highest turnout so far in East Texas, is the closest local county to matching 2016’s total, at 82.4%.
Van Zandt County voters were the least active at the polls by this measure, as well, at just 54.2% of their 2016 turnout.
Statewide, Dewitt County has the highest voter turnout this year, with 68.9% of registered voters having already submitted their ballot by the end of the day Sunday. Among large counties, Collin County was on top with 54.8%.
Bexar, Denton, Hays, and Williamson counties had all seen more votes cast in 2002 early voting by Monday than they saw in the entirety of the 2016 election.
There is plenty at stake in this election, but there is still plenty of time to have an impact. CBS19 has a local election guide where voters can view their sample ballot, learn which forms of identification to bring, and see which polling location is closest to them.
Absentee ballots must be received by November 3, so voters are encouraged to return them as soon as possible to make sure they are received in time to be counted.