UPDATE: Over 11K Cast Ballots Early in First Five Days in Tom Green County

Update Friday 10/26/18 5:50 p.m. Incredible voter turnout continues in Tom Green County as 11,194 cast ballots in the first five days of early voting.

According to Tom Green County Elections Administrator Vona Hudson, at the Keyes building downtown, 1,234 voters cast ballots today and 6,644 have voted since Monday. 

At Central High School, another 151 voted today for a total at that location of 896.  In Christoval, 55 ballots were cast for a total of 420 since Monday.  

At Lincoln Middle School, 101 ballots were cast today for a week long total of 519.  And surprisingly, at the PAYS Alternative Learning Center next to San Angelo Stadium, 487 cast ballots today and 2,715 voted there since Monday. 

The current rate of voters casting ballots during early voting will be a record in Tom Green County by the end of early voting Nov. 2. 

For more, see the original story below.

SAN ANGELO, TX -- A steady stream of voters worked their way through the Tom Green County Elections Office Friday morning adding to an already heavy turnout.

Elections Administrator Vona Hudson said that as of 9:36 a.m. Friday 9,431 residents had cast ballots during the first four days of early voting for the Nov. 6 the general election.  At the current pace, over 10,000 ballots will have been cast during early voting by the end of today. The elections office had processed 5,592 of those ballots. Hudson said the race for U.S. Senator is pushing the turnout that is on record pace.  Hudson said turnout has been higher in this election than in the last two presidential elections. There are 67,007 registered voters currently in Tom Green County.  Hudson says if early voting continues at this pace, turnout could exceed 50 percent.

Interest in the midterm election is high because of the race for U.S. Senator between incumbent Senator Ted Cruz and challenger Beto O’Rourke.  In San Angelo there is also interest in the two bond proposals for the San Angelo ISD.

There are two contested local races in Tom Green County.  In Pct. 1 incumbent Justice of the Peace Susan Werner, a republican, is challenged by democratic nominee Sally Ayana.  In Pct. 4, incumbent republican Bill Ford is challenged by write-in candidate Gilbert Gallegos.

In the latest RealClearPolitics poll, Senator Cruz leads O’Rourke by 6.8 percent.  Cruz is up in every poll. This morning, Ted Cruz leads Beto O’Rourke by 5 among likely voters, a new poll by the Texas Tribune poll finds.

If yard signs are any indication San Angeloans are passionately divided over the San Angelo ISD bond proposals.  There are small yard signs that say simply ‘Vote No to SAISD Bond’ and on the other side are the professionally designed and printed yard signs that support both bonds.  There was even a jeep pulling a trailer this week in San Angelo with a large sign that said vote not on the bonds.

Sample ballots are available here.  

Some voters on Monday stood in line for over an hour at the elections office in the Keyes building downtown while there are four other early voting locations open.  The lines and waiting times were short at the San Angelo ISD PAYS facility on Knickerbocker Rd. by San Angelo stadium, Lincoln Middle School on Lake View Heroes Drive and at Central High School’s Sarah Bernhardt Theatre.  

Early voting was heavy in the Christoval Community Center in Christoval.  

Early voting is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at all five locations all this week.  They will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, 12:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Sunday and then 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday next week.  

There will be 19 polling locations open on election day Nov. 6 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.