Thousands of new voters are registered to vote in El Paso County.
Monday, Oct. 5, marked the last day to register to vote ahead of the critical Nov. 3 general election. The El Paso County Elections Department reported that more than 10,000 new voters have registered since the May Primary Runoff election.
There are currently 537,655 registered voters in El Paso County, according to the Elections Department website
.
The upcoming General Election features several important races, including the gubernatorial showdown between incumbent Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and Democratic challenger Gina Hinojosa, as well as the tight U.S. Senate race between Democrat James Talarico and Republican Ken Paxton. In El Paso, voters will be casting ballots in four
El Paso City Council races, two El Paso County Commissioners Court contests, and the battle for El Paso County Judge.
The delays in voter registration applications caused by a Department of Public Safety error have all been resolved, according to El Paso County Elections Administrator Lisa Wise. However, there is currently no indication of how many voters remain on the county's Suspense List, which sat at more than 50,400 in early September.
Further, there is no clear number of voters who have been removed from county voter rolls.
"The number changes daily as people move in and out of the county," Wise said in an email. "Removal is generally because we receive notice from another County that they’ve registered there, they are on the deceased list from the County Clerk, or they self-remove."
While it's hard to gauge how many of El Paso's voters will turn out at the polls next month, Wise said she expects the number to be around the 40% range seen in 2018.
"We have a great voter registration rate," she said. "Unfortunately, there’s often a much lower turnout in the county. We are seeing that improve and hope those numbers continue to increase."
When does early voting start in Texas?
Early voting for the General Election runs from Monday, Oct. 19, until Friday, Oct. 30, and Wise is encouraging El Paso's electorate to be prepared.
"As with every election, we encourage voters to check their registration ahead of time, review their sample ballot and make a plan for where and when they want to vote," she said. "All of this information can be accessed by visiting our website at www.epcountyvotestx.gov."
Adam Powell covers government and politics for the El Paso Times and can be reached via email at apowell@elpasotimes.com.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso adds thousands of voters, boosting stakes for November
