El Paso County officials say early voter turnout is on the rise

Early voting ends Friday, and El Paso County officials said turnout has increased compared to other recent elections.

Without factoring results from Thursday or Friday, El Paso County Election administrator Lisa Wise said more than 26,000 voters have cast their ballots compared to more than 22,000 in 2014.

She said she expects a high turnout for the March 6 Primary Election, and county officials are doing their best to be prepared.

“A lot of time what we do when we see a site is getting a lot of attention, maybe Bassett, one of our busiest sites, even here at the courthouse, we might bring in some machines or maybe bring extra clerk,” said Wise.

All eyes are on the U.S. Senate race between former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke and Sen. Ted Cruz. Each candidate has to win their party’s primary to appear on the ballot in November.

“So far, the election numbers indicate that this election day is drawing out a lot more Democratic voters,” said UTEP Professor Dr. Richard Pineda.

ABC-7 reported that CNN predicts Texas will make a shift from solid red to a lighter red concerning the Senate race.

The seat for the U.S. House of Representative in the 16th District is another big-ticket race for El Pasoans with the election quickly approaching.

“The kinds of advertisements that are being run, especially in the 11th hour, tend to move negative,” said Pineda. “Voters may be turned away from a candidate in these negative ads, but it doesn’t mean that they’ll vote for the candidate behind those ads.”

Click here for a list of early voting locations throughout El Paso County.