It’s Election Day, and voters are headed to the polls to vote for candidates running in the Democratic and Republican primary elections.
Polls will be open across the state from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Tuesday’s primaries will include federal, state and county races. In races where no candidate gets more than 50% of the vote, a runoff election will be held on May 24.
At Great Northwest Library, nearly 10 voters were already in line waiting when polls opened their doors at 7 a.m., said Terri Ybarra, poll worker for the Bexar County Elections Department.
The average wait at the library, Ybarra said, is about 10 to 15 minutes.
“It’s running very smoothly. We have a constant flow of very interested voters. They’re very happy with the weather, also,” she said.
Former high school educator Krystal Wylie also mentioned Tuesday’s pleasant weather as she waited in line at Brook Hollow Library, saying she had initially planned to vote early, but because of the cold weather, she decided to wait until Election Day.
With her three children, ages 4, 2 and 9 months, she said the wait had been about 20 minutes and would probably be at the polls for about 20 more. Wylie said getting the children to come with her was difficult between snack time and nap time, but said getting out to vote today was important.
“It teaches them early that this is normal. I was a high school teacher and so many of them thought, ‘My vote doesn’t count, my vote doesn’t matter.’ But I think if more people were willing to bring their kids to see this process, they’d go, ’OK, this is what we do,’” said Wylie.
Wylie said seeing this in her students caused her to “re-learn,” and set an example when it comes to voting. She said she’ll also be sending her friends and family a message, asking if they voted today to plant the idea in their mind.
Turnout looks to be fairly strong for a primary so far: About 4,500 more early votes were cast this election in Bexar County than during early voting in 2018. In that last primary election, 93,101 voters showed up to early voting centers in Bexar County, casting 51,917 Democratic and 41,184 Republican ballots ahead of Election Day in 2018.
This year, early voting in Bexar County ended with 97,653 ballots cast. Of those, 50,484 were Democratic and 47,169 were Republican.
In the primary, voters will be choosing party nominees who will face off in the general election on Nov. 8. In races where the top vote-getters head to a runoff, voters will need to cast ballots for runoff candidates in the same party they voted for in the primary.
A security officer overseeing the poll line at Brook Hollow Library said wrap-around lines have been consistent all day, beginning shortly after the polls opened. After a few hours, lines dropped off, but foot traffic began again around 10 a.m.
We’ll have continuing coverage throughout Election Day from polling centers around San Antonio on the San Antonio Report’s website, as well as live results and reactions from victory parties in San Antonio and Austin.
For more on today’s most interesting races, see our report on the five primaries that Bexar County residents should be watching, and read our Q&A with candidates for Bexar County judge.
