COUNTY'S EARLY VOTING RATE AT PRESIDENTIAL-YEAR PACE

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

The first two days of early voting in Cameron County has outpaced the rates of November 2016, the presidential-election year when Donald Trump was elected to the White house.

And although there are numerous races being contested – including the Cameron County Judge's race between incumbent Eddie Treviño and challenger Carlos Cascos – it seems that the U.S. Senate race between incumbent Ted Cruz and "Beto" O'Rourke has caught the electorate's fancy.

Total for the first two days 11-day early voting period from Oct. 22 to Nov. 2 is 13,467 votes across the 20 open voting sites. Five other early voting sites will open on a limited basis later in the early voting period.

Those 13,467 votes for this year slightly outpace the 13,119 votes cast in the first two days of the Nov. 2016 elections, a surprising total since they have been cast in a presidential midterm election.

The rule of thumb for predicting the turnout in local elections holds that 60 percent of the votes are cast during this period.

"This is wonderful news for us," said a voting site worker at the Brownsville Central Public Library, the most popular early voting site in the county. "It's good to see so much interest in the electorate."

There are, of course, other races being run here. Judicial, state, and school district races are also at stake. The heightened interest could impact these races as well.

"We are hoping people in Cameron County take the time to vote," said the worker. "It's a privilege  people in this country enjoy that sometimes we don't appreciate."