Big surge closes out early voting

After nine days of early voting, 103,832 Travis County voters had cast ballots in the May 1 election. More than 26,000 of those voters cast their ballots on the final day of early voting. Overall, 13.67 percent of the county’s registered voters have already voted. The Ben Hur Shrine Center hosted the most voters, with a total of 11,737. More than 8,000 voters cast ballots at the Shops at Arbor Walk in Northwest Austin and the Austin Oaks Church in Southwest Austin. More than 7,000 voters cast ballots at the Eanes ISD administration building, indicating an interest in the district’s two school board races. Only 2,622 voters had cast ballots by mail as of Wednesday, but more could still come in. The majority of city of Austin voters who went to vote early were probably most interested in Proposition B, which would reinstate criminal penalties for camping in most public areas. But propositions A, C and D-H all have their proponents and detractors as well.