The first day of Early Voting in Person is history. The good news for local Dems is the mail ballot numbers. It looks like the local Dem effort might be paying off.
Here in Harris County 41,520 mail ballots are in the can as compared to 24,273 on Day 1 in 2010 and 40,566 in 2012.
Early Voting in Person is below the 2010 levels on Day 1 but when you look at individual locations, they are all down. I was thinking that with all the ads and hoopla out there, the numbers would be better than the 2010 numbers. Well, we still have eleven days.
Here is what the Chron’s Theodore “Teddy” Schleifer has to say:
Twenty percent more votes were cast on the initial day of early voting in Harris County on Monday than were cast on the first day in 2010, an increase fueled by a huge uptick in the number of mail ballots sent earlier this fall to voters.
And:
Election officials said Monday afternoon that 61,735 total votes had been cast, two-thirds of which had arrived by mail but had not been officially counted until early voting began.
While the number of votes at the county’s 41 early-vote locations decreased by 6,000 votes compared to 2010, the 66 percent increase in the vote-by-mail numbers resulted in a total increase of about 11,000 votes.
Democrats made a coordinated vote-by-mail program a priority this cycle for the first time, partially because the new, tough voter ID law does not impact absentee balloting. The law’s reinstatement over the weekend may disqualify potential Democratic voters, Democrats say, making their vote-by-mail push even more critical.
And:
Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston, said the early voting period could be “fairly consequential for Democrats” as they claim enthusiasm is on their side heading toward Election Day.
“For a lot of Democrats and for a lot of watchers of Democrats, they’re going to want to know, ‘Are you going to get your people to the polls like you promised?’ ” Rottinghaus said. “From a political standpoint, they need to have those numbers pretty high.”
Let’s see what happens today!
KC and the Giants faced each other for three back in August at The K. Who won the series?
Harris County Tax Assessor Collector Mike Sullivan let me know yesterday that he stands by his tweet on Friday. Here is what I put out yesterday:
I put up the following Mike Sullivan tweet from last Friday and it turned out to be incorrect and wrong. Oh well!
Mike Sullivan @CMMikeSullivan 39m39 minutes ago
Mayor Annise Parker just told this audience “I will bring a term limits change to city council agenda. I want to be mayor longer”.
Well, The Mayor said she didn’t so tie goes to the runner, I guess.
KC swept the Giants in three back in August of course and it is World Serious time.
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