Low Voter Turnout Expected in Texas Primary Runoff Election

Low Voter Turnout Expected in Texas Primary Runoff Election
A voter heads into a polling station to vote in the primary runoff, in Del Rio, Texas, on May 24, 2022. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)
Charlotte Cuthbertson
5/24/2022
Updated:
5/24/2022
0:00

DEL RIO, Texas—Voters trickled into polling stations on election day for the Texas primary runoff in the south Texas border town of Del Rio on Tuesday.

Del Rio, which sits in Val Verde County has close to 29,000 registered voters, but turnout for the runoff is expected to be low, according to County Clerk Janie Ramon. The March primary attracted 14 percent of county voters and this runoff is expected to be lower.

“This is a very small election,” Ramon said. During early voting the week prior, 332 people voted in person, she said.

“I think the only big race on the ticket that’s drawing any kind of attention is the Paxton and Bush race.”

The headline race for Republicans is the attorney general ticket, in which incumbent, and favorite, Ken Paxton faces George P. Bush, the current land commissioner.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (L) is facing George P. Bush in the GOP primary election runoff in Texas on May 23, 2022. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times and David J. Phillip-Pool/Getty Images)
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (L) is facing George P. Bush in the GOP primary election runoff in Texas on May 23, 2022. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times and David J. Phillip-Pool/Getty Images)

Democrats also have two contenders in the attorney general runoff, with former American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Rochelle Garza likely to beat former Galveston Mayor Joe Jaworski for the spot on the November ballot.

Statewide, the only other runoff that features both parties is the race for land commissioner, which Bush vacated for his attorney general aspirations.

Republicans will also vote for their preferred railroad commissioner.

Democrats will pick a lieutenant governor candidate and a state comptroller nominee.

Val Verde County Commissioner Beau Nettleton said voter turnout has always been low, but it’s getting lower.

“I think part of what drives that is the public is tired of politics, they’re tired of being promised things they don’t get. They’ve given up on change,” Nettleton told The Epoch Times.

“What they don’t understand is that change comes through voter turnout. When you’re not happy with government as a whole, on any level—state, local, or federal—the quickest way to make that change is when you have a large voter turnout.”

Val Verde County Commissioner Beau Nettleton, in Del Rio, Texas, on May 24, 2022. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)
Val Verde County Commissioner Beau Nettleton, in Del Rio, Texas, on May 24, 2022. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

In Del Rio, several voters on May 24 arrived at the wrong polling location for their precinct and were directed to another location.

None of the voters that The Epoch Times spoke to wanted to give their name or for which candidates they voted for, but were happy to talk about issues.

“Biden’s doing a lousy job,” one man said. He said he’s currently most concerned about inflation, gas prices, and border security.

“Unless we vote some real conservatives into office.. to fight against Biden, who puts America last in everything he does. This country’s doomed.”

Del Rio hit the headlines last September when 15,000 mostly Haitian illegal immigrants gathered under the international bridge between the city and Mexico.

The region has become one of the southern border hotspots for illegal immigrants crossing in large groups. Since Oct. 1, 2021, Border Patrol agents have apprehended illegal aliens from 107 different nationalities in the Del Rio sector.

A voter heads into a polling station to vote in the Texas primary runoff, in Del Rio, Texas, on May 24, 2022. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)
A voter heads into a polling station to vote in the Texas primary runoff, in Del Rio, Texas, on May 24, 2022. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

Another man, aged 66, said he only started voting in 2016 so that he could vote against Donald Trump.

“This country is so divided. I don’t know what’s going to happen. Maybe a civil war,” he said.

A woman, who also initially went to the wrong polling station, said she’s concerned about gas prices and the economy. The price at the pump was $4.20 for regular and $5.12 for diesel.

“The Democrats, I don’t know where their head is,” she said. The attorney general runoff was the key race for her and she said Paxton has done a good job in trying to curb the Biden administration’s border security measures, many of which have been removed or relaxed.

“Here in Texas we don’t have a border,” she said.

One self-described Democrat man said he would never vote for a Republican. “I’m with the women, because no white man is supposed to tell them what to do with their body,” he said, regarding abortion. He said he’s also concerned about the erosion of social security and Medicare.

Nettleton said low voter turnout means elected officials only have to listen to the special interests and the small group of people that are voting.

“We have made it so easy for people to vote—there is no excuse not to show up. If you don’t voice your opinion, then I don’t believe you have the right to complain about what you don’t like. At all.

“I believe that the voters—if they want the change in government they’re looking for—you have to get to an 80 to 90 percent voter turnout.”

Val Verde County Clerk Janie Ramon in her office in Del Rio, Texas, on May 24, 2022. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)
Val Verde County Clerk Janie Ramon in her office in Del Rio, Texas, on May 24, 2022. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

Ramon said she also gets disappointed in low voter turnout.

“Sure. Because we do so much work,” she said.

She expects to have Val Verde County’s results in by around 9 p.m., all going well.