(Seguin) — Today is the last day to cast your ballot early in the Joint Texas Primary Runoff Election. Guadalupe County Elections Administrator Lisa Hayes says after having to plan the unusual mid summer election amid the COVID-19 pandemic, she believes the voter turnout has been pretty amazing here in the county.
“The early voting turnout has actually been very good. I checked the numbers, compared them to our 2016 Primary Runoff Election and our 2018 Primary Runoff Election and up until this week which I have no second week to compare against because normally, early voting is just one week but the first week of early voting for this election, the numbers were only slightly below the Primary Runoff of 2018 and that point, we had several local races on the ballot as well as the federal and state races so I believe the turnout has been pretty amazing considering the situation that we find ourselves in and been very pleased about the turnout,” said Hayes
This runoff election was originally set for May. However with everything going on, Texas Governor Greg Abbott not only delayed it for Tuesday, July 14 but added on an additional week for early voting.
As reported at the beginning of early voting, the election, based on the original March 3 Primary results, looks to solidify an official party nomination for individual races headed into the November Presidential and General Election. At the time, the March 3 Primaries were held just weeks if not days before headlines of COVID-19 began to erupt across the country.
Due to tighter safety restrictions, Hayes says her office has provided safe and available voting. She says the process is designed to be contactless with voters using a stylus to point and select their choice on the electronic touchscreen voting machines.
“The election process for early voting for this election has gone very smoothly. I’ve been so pleased with the processes that we have put into place to ensure as much as we are able to the safety of our voters and our poll workers. The voters have been so patient with us. It’s been amazing and wonderful. They’ve been appreciative of the measures that we’ve taken. The poll workers and our early voting clerks have all been very patient as well and very diligent in ensuring that we are meeting these guidelines that have been established for everyone’s safety.Overall, it has just been an amazing experience,” says Hayes.
In Guadalupe County, the Democratic ballot features the races for United States Senator and Railroad Commissioner. The candidates for Senator include Mary “MJ” Hegar and Royce West. Seeking the Democratic nomination for Railroad Commissioner are Roberto “Beto” Alonzo and Chrysta Castandeda.
Hayes also says that depending where you live, the Republican ballot in Guadalupe County will feature two separate races for United States Representative.
The Republican ballot for United State Representative District 15 features candidates Ryan Krause and Monica De La Cruz-Hernandez, while US Rep. District 35 features Candidates Jenny Garcia Sharon and Guillermo William Hayward.
The Member, State Board of Education District 5 race will also appear on the Republican ballot. Candidates include Lani Popp and Robert Morrow.
Sample ballots for each respective registered voter can be found on the Guadalupe County Elections Office website at co.guadalupe.tx.us./elections.
Early voting locations include the Seguin Elections Office, the Schertz Elections Office Annex, Grace Lutheran Church in New Braunfels and the New Berlin City Hall.
Early voting runs today from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.