When nearly 4.5 million Texans showed up for the state’s March primaries earlier this year, it broke midterm turnout records. But recent history suggests most of them won’t be back for the May 26 runoff.
In the state’s previous midterm cycle, runoff turnout dropped to just 8.2% of registered voters statewide, data shows. Some districts recorded turnout as low as 1%.
While the conventional explanation might be voter apathy, Marjorie Clifton, co-founder of the nonpartisan voter-mobilization group May Matters, sees it differently.
“What we’ve learned is that people really do care,” Clifton said. “They just don’t understand.”
Texas-based May Matters launched about a year ago with a simple premise: voters aren’t turning out for off-peak elections because they’re apathetic. Instead, nobody explained the importance of primaries and runoffs.
The organization provides free voter-education toolkits to employers, churches, nonprofits and other civic organizations already in regular conversation with their communities. Partners can then add their own logos, language and photos, then distribute the materials through channels they’re already using.
Clifton calls it the “trusted messenger model.”
She maintains that people are more likely to open an email from their boss than to engage with a political message from a stranger.
In March, the approach showed results. Nearly 400 partner organizations shared the group’s nonpartisan election information across the state, reaching an estimated 5 million Texans, according to Clifton.
May Matters also exceeded its goal of reaching 250,000 new voters during this primary season.
Now, May Matters faces a tougher sell: Texas’ current runoff election. Early voting began Monday, May 18, and runs through Friday, May 22, with Election Day set for May 26.
“We rolled right into preparing for the runoff coming out of the primary,” Clifton said. “Runoffs are the space where there’s the most growth and most engagement needed.”
In Bexar County, the ballot includes a high-profile U.S. Senate contest between John Cornyn and Ken Paxton on the Republican side, a Democratic race for district attorney between Jane Davis and Luz Elena Chapa, and both Democratic and Republican contests in the newly redrawn 35th Congressional District.
Clifton stressed that people who didn’t participate in the primary can still participate in the runoff.
“It’s like a wide-open slate for people who didn’t participate in the primary,” Clifton said. “They can vote in either the Democratic or Republican runoff.”
May Matters hasn’t set a specific turnout target for this cycle. However, given Texas’ historically low turnout for May primaries, any upward movement in the numbers would be a positive step.
Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. for early voting. Polling locations and registration information are available through the Bexar County Elections Department website.
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