By BJ Austin, KERA News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-931411.mp3
Dallas, TX – Early voting for the November 2nd general election is in the final week. KERA's BJ Austin says voters are apparently fired up over the Governor's race.
The first week of early voting in Dallas County set a very quick pace: more than 90 thousand votes cast.
Sherbet: Now that compares way up from four years ago when it was 66 thousand-275, and even from the 2002 election when it was 56,103. Ninety thousand indicates to us voter interest is up.
Elections Administrator Bruce Sherbet believes he knows why.
Sherbet: The Governor's race is driving the turnout. It usually always does. If it's a hotly contested, like we've seen this time where everyone is within arm's reach of each other, it's the ingredient of a higher turnout.
Tarrant County Elections Administrator Steve Raborn says this election seems more politically charged.
Raborn: You know, just politics in general from a national level - the things we're hearing day to day in the news. We've been expecting higher turnout in the southern part of the county where we've got some hotly contested state representative races. And, of course I think there might be some argument to make that early voting in general is becoming more popular.
Collin County bears that out.
Rowe: In 2008 for the presidential early voting we had 228 thousand voters vote during the early voting time period. That was 75% of ballots cast were cast during the early voting period.
Sharon Rowe, Collin County Elections Administrator, says the early vote won't be that big this time, but 9.5% of the Collin County registered voters cast ballots during the first week of early voting. That's 14 thousand more than the first week of early voting in 2006, the last Governor's race.
In Denton County, the early vote is heavy, especially in Carrollton, Flower Mound, Lewisville and Denton. But Elections Administrator Frank Phillips says it won't come close to the 2008 presidential early vote.
Elections officials say they can't say who's turning out more early voters, Democrats or Republicans. But, Bruce Sherbet in Dallas County says traditionally, North Dallas, predominantly Republican, turns out the most early voters. South Dallas, heavily Democratic, votes Election Day.