BEXAR COUNTY, Texas – Along with his picture identification, Robert Klapp showed up at a North Side polling location Tuesday morning with something equally important for casting his ballot.
He had a sheet of paper on which he wrote the names of the candidates for whom he planned to vote in the primary elections.
“This is a long, long ballot,” he said. “I spent a lot of time last night going through every candidate.”
The ballot includes dozens of people vying for positions that include everything from the U.S. Senate and House to Texas governor and state and county judges.
There are also 13 propositions on the ballot.
Klapp was one of more than 70,000 voters casting ballots during the early voting season, one of the busiest in a while.
>> Sharp increase of early voting reported in Bexar County, elections department says
Bexar County’s Elections Administrator Michele Carew sent out a news release Monday, highlighting a sharp increase in early voting participation.
She said the turnout of 70,912 voters during the first five days of early voting this year was more than double the number for the same time in 2022.
“Most important election in years, in my life,” Klapp said. “I think it’s really important that everybody, everybody who possibly can, make their voice heard.”
Klapp said he was not surprised by the high turnout, given the current political climate in the United States.
Like him, others wanted to make sure their opinions were counted.
“It’s a little bit of a tumultuous time in the United States and anything we can do to just help our beliefs out and elect the right people,” said Mike Hernandez, after casting his ballot along with his wife, Kristi.
“I know that we looked up candidates before coming here and felt we made some educated choices on who we want to lead certain moments in our country right now,” Kristi Hernandez said.
Genesis Aban, 20, showed up at the polls planning to vote in his first non-presidential election.
He said social media inspired him to do his civic duty.
“I see a lot more content about political subjects and I, myself, feel more engaged now,” Aban said.
However, what did come as a surprise to this college student was a ballot that felt a bit like a final exam —two pages worth of names and information to digest.
“I have to make my decision,” Aban said, looking over the sample ballot in his hand.
Early voting runs through Friday, Feb. 27. Primary election day is Tuesday, March 3.
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