Lubbock Voters Appear Ready To Cast Ballots

Get our free mobile app

It may not be a tsunami of voters turning out to vote in the May 7 General Election in Lubbock, but if the first day of Early Voting was any indication, we might actually see a decent turnout for this year's election. This year citizens will vote for Mayor and three City Council seats along with Lubbock ISD Board of Trustees, and two propositions for the Texas Constitution.

According to data provided by the Lubbock County Elections Office, 1,503 people voted on Monday. That may not sound like much, but let's compare that number to historical numbers. In the May 2018 Election, 1,063 people voted on the first day of Early Voting. That was the last time Districts 1, 3, and 5 along with the Mayor were on the ballot. In 2014, only 847 people voted on the first day of Early Voting. In fact, you'd have to go back to 2006 when districts 1, 3, and 5 along with the Mayor were on the ballot that brought in more voters. On Day one of Early Voting in 2006, 1,508 people showed up to cast a ballot. A lot has changed in Lubbock since 2006 including in population. In fact, a lot more people should be voting.

To be fair, the first day of Early Voting in May of 2016 brought out the highest first day turnout of 1,578 votes.

Voters like competitive campaigns and elections and you have that in all but one City Council race this year. Add to that competitive races for Lubbock ISD Board of Trustees  and you can see why people are heading to the polls.

City Council and School Board races matter, local elections matter. Look at your property tax appraisal and tell me that local doesn't matter. Hopefully, more informed citizens will vote in the days to come and hopefully those moving into Lubbock are paying attention to what is happening locally.

Early voting for the May 7 Election runs through May 3rd.