Early voting enters its last two days: 360,000 Travis County ballots in, 38% of registered voters

Nearly four in 10 registered voters in Travis County had cast a ballot by Wednesday night, with two days of early voting left. The county clerk's unofficial daily totals show 360,302 ballots through Oct. 28, or 37.98% of the county's 948,575 registered voters.

For Austin residents, those ballots settle five City Council seats, the $295 million parks and library bonds and eight charter amendments, including Proposition I. Early voting ends Friday, and Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.

This updates our Oct. 26 story, which counted 256,222 ballots, or 27%, through the first weekend.

The second week so far

According to the county's totals:

• In person: 343,145 voters at early voting sites in all.
• Monday through Wednesday: 33,278, 33,770 and 34,057 in-person voters. That is steady, but below the 37,774 to 40,777 a day of the first week.
• By mail: 15,427 mail ballots received.
• Limited ballots: 1,730. The county offers limited ballots only during early voting, at 5501 Airport Blvd., according to its election page.

The Statesman has reported that the county could set a midterm early-voting record, and KUT reported the first day was the strongest for a midterm this century.

Where people are voting

The busiest sites through Wednesday were the Ben Hur Shrine Center (14,579), Bee Cave City Hall (14,098), the Pflugerville ISD Rock Gym (12,658), Austin Energy headquarters (12,308) and Typhoon Texas Waterpark (12,155).

City-owned buildings used as sites through Wednesday include:

• Austin Energy headquarters: 12,308
• Northwest Recreation Center: 8,182
• George Morales Dove Springs Recreation Center: 7,761
• South Austin Recreation Center: 7,589
• Menchaca Road Branch Library: 7,034
• Austin Recreation Center: 6,874
• Austin City Hall: 6,767
• Carver Branch Library: 6,475
• Austin Permitting and Development Center: 6,192
• Dan Ruiz Branch Library: 6,170
• Gus Garcia Recreation Center: 5,825
• Millennium Youth Entertainment Complex: 5,454
• Cepeda Branch Library: 4,075

What our records add

How these races got on the ballot. The council voted 11-0 on Aug. 6 to order the council election for Districts 1, 3, 5, 8 and 9, and the same day ordered the bond election and the charter amendment election. Our Prop I explainer and bond story explain those measures.

The money. Our final campaign finance story shows what each council candidate raised and had left before the last week, and our ballot measure money story covers the committees on Prop I and the bonds. Our Save Austin Now story explains a reporting mismatch in that committee's city filings.

The candidates' records. Our race guides cover District 1, District 3, District 5, District 8 and District 9. Incumbents José Velásquez, Ryan Alter and Zo Qadri are on the ballot, and Districts 1 and 8 are open seats.

What's next

• Thursday and Friday, Oct. 29-30: Early voting runs 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The county says some locations have extended hours on the last two days. Check the early voting site list before you go.
• Tuesday, Nov. 3: Election Day voting runs 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The county posts the Election Day sites and a voter lookup that shows your ballot.
• After the count: Results will appear on the county's results page. Austin council races require a majority, so a race with no majority winner goes to a runoff.