There’s a lot at stake on May 26, so why is turnout so low. There may be reasons.
HOUSTON — The final hours of early voting ticked away Friday with relatively low voter turnout.
That’s nothing new for runoff elections, but some say voter fatigue is at play for an election with so much at stake.
Harris County voters have been to the voting booth time and time and time again. The current primary runoff features major elections, like a U.S. Senate seat and the Congressional District 18 seat.
“No matter what, it is your civic duty as a citizen,” said voter Dee Banks.
This is the sixth election since November’s general election and it’s hard to keep up. Banks has been keeping track.
“It’s still my district. I’m one of the fortunate ones where it didn’t affect me too much,” she said.
So far, she’s part of the combined total of 120,066 Harris County early voters. The numbers are expected to rise on Election Day Tuesday. But experts say it’s still coming up short.
“There’s a lot of research that suggest people who are confused about shifting district lines are not likely to come out to vote for the first time,” said KHOU 11 political analyst Brandon Rottinghaus. “Those lines are in use that is this moment,”
The newly drawn congressional maps and voter confusion are factors, but also the sheer number of recent elections. For some candidates, low turnout may be good. They maintain a pool of committed voters. But for others, they may need support from a broader pool.
“If you have people not showing up, that means an election can be swung easily by just a handful of voters,” Rottinghaus said.
Even with the burnout, Sonyette Wallace said the stakes are too high, to not show up.
“By any means possible I’m determined to make my vote count,” she said.
The low turnout this time around isn’t a new phenomenon. In the last special election runoff, also for Congressional District 18, only six percent of eligible voters showed up, which is on par with what we’re seeing this time around.
“I just vote when I’m supposed to vote,” said voter Roberta Hayes.
Hayes said whether it was two elections or more, she’d still vote.
KHOU 11 will have full streaming coverage of key races Tuesday night, beginning at 6:30 p.m.
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