The Lubbock County Elections Office wants to remind voters that early voting ends Friday, March 2. Through early voting, registered voters have the opportunity to do so ahead of long lines and crowds on Election Day on Tuesday, March 6.
However, it does not seem as many voters are taking advantage of the option.
Dorothy Kennedy, administrator for the Lubbock County Elections Office, reported that of the more than 168,000 registered voters in the county, so far only 10,500 have showed up to the polls, or 6 percent. However, it’s not just Lubbock County seeing low numbers.
“It’s been slow, but the Secretary of State’s office has also said that turnout has been low throughout the state,” said Kennedy.
Kennedy explained there are a couple of different reasons for this: one being that some people will wait until Election Day, and that others simply prefer not to vote in the primaries. She also reported that in governor election years, there will not nearly be as much voter turnout as presidential election years.
“There are people who don’t vote in the primaries because they don’t want to be attached to a party, and that’s the voters’ right and they may wait to in May and again in November,” she said. “A lot of people will also wait until the last few days of early voting to get out and go vote. They can avoid the Tuesday lines. Today [Thursday] and tomorrow, we’ll see our numbers go up.”
Kennedy said it is important that voters take advantage of the early voting option, not just for the sake of convenience, but also because of the more highly contested races here in the county.
“With county judge being a contested race, county commissioners two and four, and our county court at law judge three, so those are some of the big races that this election will decide who’s going to move on,” she said.
Voters have from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, March 2 to still vote early. For voting locations, how to vote or even to check voter eligibility, visit the Lubbock County Elections Office at votelubbock.org.
Be sure to bring a valid and physical form of photo I.D., such as a driver’s license, current utility bill or a bank statement.
