The largest counties in North Texas saw a big drop in early voting turnout this year compared to the 2018 midterms.
That's according to unofficial totals from the Texas Secretary of State, which reported about 30% of voters in Dallas County showed up to vote early this year compared to nearly 40% in the last midterms, which saw record turnout. That means about 118,000 fewer voters showed up to the polls in Dallas compared to 2018.
Tarrant County saw a similar drop — with a 32% early voter turnout compared to 41% in 2018, roughly 56,000 fewer early votes.
More voters turned out in the suburban counties of Collin and Denton, but numbers were still lower than the last midterm. Both counties saw a rate of about 38%.
Across all four counties — which are among the state's 10 most populous — turnout was down by nearly 200,000 voters.
That's roughly 10 percentage points, with nearly 33% of registered voters turning out early this year compared to about 43% in 2018.
Statewide turnout is lower overall, with roughly 5.4 million — or 31% of registered voters — showing up to the polls early.
Election day is Tuesday, Nov. 8.
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