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Travis and Williamson Counties Shatter Records for Early Voting Turnout

Miguel Gutierrez Jr. /KUT News

Travis County showed up to vote early in record numbers over the past twelve days, both in raw number of voters and the percentage of registered voters casting ballots.

Today, the last day of early voting, set a new record for the most in person early voters, with 42,932 ballots cast today.

The previous record for a single day of in-person early voting was set on October 31, 2008. 37,420 people voted on that final day of early voting amid President Obama's historic first campaign. 

But overall records were set this year, too.

In total, 372,188 ballots were cast since October 24, an astounding 51.07 percent of registered voters.

That smashed the previous record in terms of raw voter numbers and just snuck past the record as a percentage of registered voters.

In 2008, the previous record year,  298,873 people voted early or by mail in Travis County — 49.06 percent of registered voters at the time.

Williamson County also set new records. 163,617 voters cast ballots during early voting this year, compared to 112,329 in 2008 and 105,508 in 2012. By the end of early voting today, 53.39 percent of registered voters there had cast ballots, besting the previous record of 48.42 percent in 2008.

Voting records were set across the state, as people have flocked to early voting sites in most of Texas' largest counties,according to data from the Texas Secretary of State's office.

Matt Largey is the Projects Editor at KUT. That means doing a little bit of everything: editing reporters, producing podcasts, reporting, training, producing live events and always being on the lookout for things that make his ears perk up. Got a tip? Email him at mlargey@kut.org. Follow him on Twitter @mattlargey.
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