Early voting update: 256,000 Travis County ballots in, 27% of registered voters

More than a quarter of Travis County's registered voters had cast a ballot by Sunday night, with five days of early voting still to go. The county clerk's unofficial daily totals show 256,222 ballots through Oct. 25, or 27.01% of the county's 948,575 registered voters.

That matters for Austin's city races. Five council seats, the $295 million parks and library bonds and eight charter amendments are all on the ballot, and the turnout so far shows how many voters have already decided those questions.

This follows our Oct. 24 early voting story, which covered the record first day. Here is what changed since then.

The first seven days

According to the county's totals:

• In person: 242,040 voters at early voting sites.
• By mail: 13,449 mail ballots received, most of them (9,170) logged on the first day.
• Limited ballots: 733.
• Weekdays: In-person turnout stayed between 37,774 and 40,777 a day from Monday through Friday. Friday's 40,453 nearly matched the first day.
• Weekend: 24,575 voted in person on Saturday and 18,612 on Sunday.

For comparison, KUT reported that the first day this year topped every first-day midterm total this century. The first day was about 4.3% of registered voters, compared with 2.8% in 2022 and 4.14% in 2018. County Clerk Dyana Limón-Mercado told KUT her office had prepared for "potentially historic turnout."

Where people are voting

The busiest sites through Sunday were the Ben Hur Shrine Center (10,157), Bee Cave City Hall (10,066), the Pflugerville ISD Rock Gym (9,287), Typhoon Texas Waterpark (8,557) and Austin Energy headquarters (8,540).

City buildings are a big part of the map. Through Sunday, the county reported:

• Austin City Hall: 4,648
• Austin Permitting and Development Center: 4,574
• Carver Branch Library: 4,536
• Dan Ruiz Branch Library: 4,372
• Menchaca Road Branch Library: 4,818
• Millennium Youth Entertainment Complex: 3,887
• Cepeda Branch Library: 2,784

There are 45 early voting sites this year, up from 38 in the last midterm, and 201 Election Day sites, according to KUT.

What our records add

How the city ballot got there. On Aug. 6 the council voted 11-0 to order the Nov. 3 council election for Districts 1, 3, 5, 8 and 9. The item passed without objection after a motion by Council Member Mike Siegel. The same day the council voted 11-0 on the parks and library bond election and the charter amendment election, which includes the citizen-initiated Prop I. Our Prop I explainer and bond story cover those measures.

Getting to the polls. In May the council approved, on consent, a resolution sponsored by Siegel asking the city manager to work with CapMetro and Travis County on the cost and feasibility of continuing fare-free transit on Election Day. It passed 9-0, with two members absent. Check CapMetro for its current Election Day service.

What's next

Early voting runs through Friday, Oct. 30, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Seven sites stay open until 10 p.m. on the last two days, KUT reported. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Our race guides cover District 1, District 3, District 5, District 8 and District 9.