More than 22,000 El Pasoans cast ballots on the first day of early voting Monday, a staggering 90% jump over the same point in the 2022 midterm election. The surge pushed in-person turnout past 17,500 voters, breaking the county's previous first-day in-person record for a midterm election and signaling what could be a historic turnout for the Nov. 3 election.
Breaking a Record Set in 2018
According to El Paso Matters, more than 17,500 people voted at an early-voting site Monday, the most ever recorded for a midterm election in the county. That figure topped the county's prior first-day in-person midterm record of 17,236 ballots, set in 2018, as reported by KFOX.
Nearly 5,000 mail ballots were also received by the elections office and included in Monday's total, per El Paso Matters, double the number received at this point in 2022, though still short of the 6,200 mail ballots received in 2018. The elections office had also sent out about 9,500 mail ballots to voters as of Monday. Combined, the in-person and mail totals made Monday's turnout the second-highest first-day midterm showing on record in El Paso County, trailing only 2018.
A Courthouse Evacuation Interrupts Voting
Not every polling site operated smoothly. The Enrique Moreno El Paso County Courthouse voting location was closed for most of the day after the building was evacuated due to smoke on its higher floors, the same outlet reported. Voters were not left without options, however: ballots could be cast at any of the county's 39 early-voting locations, according to KTSM.
By 7:40 p.m. Monday, more than 17,500 in-person ballots had been logged countywide, according to KVIA. The station also reported that El Paso County had more than 540,700 registered voters as of Monday, a pool that election officials say has shifted in notable ways in recent years.
Why So Many El Pasoans Are Showing Up
The elections department pointed to statewide contests as the driving force behind the surge, telling KVIA that races for governor and senator are what's peaking voter interest this cycle. The same report noted a broader rise in civic engagement, including 10,000 additional voter registration applications filed ahead of the last primary election compared with prior cycles.
The number of registered El Paso voters older than 65 has grown by 30% over the past four years, now topping 115,000, per the same El Paso Matters account. The increase in older voters is one notable demographic shift in the county, while statewide races are also drawing interest.
El Paso's Surge Fits a Statewide Pattern
El Paso wasn't alone in seeing a turnout spike. Dallas County reported 76,079 voters on the first day of early voting, a new county record that topped the previous mark of 60,573 set in 2020, according to FOX4. That total marked an increase of nearly 20,000 votes over Dallas County's first-day turnout in the 2024 general election, the station reported.
El Paso's 2018 early-voting surge offers useful context for how turnout can swell as an election approaches.
What Voters Need to Know Before Election Day
Early voting continues through Friday, Oct. 30, giving El Paso voters another week and a half to cast ballots ahead of Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 3. Polling locations on Election Day will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and any eligible voter already in line by 7 p.m. will still be allowed to vote.
Texas voters are asked to bring an approved photo identification document, such as a Texas driver's license, Texas personal ID card, U.S. passport, or military ID. Voters who are unable to reasonably obtain one of those approved forms of ID may use an alternate procedure involving supporting documentation. The ballot is expected to include federal, state, and local contests, along with qualifying local measures.
