Despite a record number of voter turnout for Super Tuesday, Williamson County had a smoother night than many Texas counties.
At its regular meeting Tuesday and a week after the March 3 primaries, the Williamson County Commissioners Court considered the successes from the night and how to improve further ahead of the November election.
“All and all, I think it was a very successful election,” Chris Davis, county election administrator, told the commissioners.
In total, 105,000 people cast ballots in the primary election ― more than any past primary election. However, the percentage of registered voters who made it to the polls dipped compared to 2008.
Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders won the race in Williamson County with 31.71% of the vote, according to election data. In 2016, Sanders lost in Williamson County to Hillary Clinton by just under 2,000 votes.
President Donald Trump received 40,954 votes, or 93% of the Republican vote. Trump received 25.74% of the vote in 2016, losing to Ted Cruz, who received 35.49%.
Many candidates of interest to Williamson County, like Sheriff Robert Chody, a Republican, and Commissioner Terry Cook, a Democrat, ran unopposed in their respective primaries.
Voters overwhelmingly approved every proposition on each party’s ballot.
Slightly more voters, 51%, voted on Election Day, compared to 49% during early voting, Davis said. He said this is likely due to candidates dropping out of the Democratic presidential race.
“There was merit for voters to wait until Election Day, and wait they did,” Davis said. “We will encourage voting early in the November general (election).”
The county had 11 early voting locations and 58 election day voting centers. Davis said the voting centers, which allow people to vote anywhere within the county, were a success.
He said the most popular polls ― Randalls in Cedar Park, the Brushy Creek Community Center and the Jester Annex ― each handled close to 2,000 people on Election Day.
The Democratic and Republican parties agreed to share ballot machines, he said, meaning voters could use the first available voting machines instead of waiting for one that was designated for their party.
“Sometimes it is better to be lucky than to be good, and I think we were lucky to have parties that were good to recognize there was merit to sharing equipment,” Davis said.
He noted that many counties that did not share equipment between parties saw longer lines.
This year, voters had to separate into different lines by party and speak with workers from their party. He said he is looking forward to 2022, when the parties will be able to have fully joint primaries.
In Travis County, some poll workers stayed at home because of fears over the coronavirus. That problem didn’t occur in Williamson County, Davis said, but he said the county elections department will employ backup workers in the future in case of emergencies.
The last Williamson County voter cast their ballot at 8:30 p.m., he said, hours ahead of voters in counties like Harris and Travis.
Williamson County was able to post final unofficial results by 11:30 p.m. — hours ahead of some of its neighbors. There was some hold up in getting the final vote count out, he said, as poll workers were adjusting to a new voting system.
Moving ahead, the county said it will continue to push the county elections website, which provides updated wait times for polling locations. This year, the website had 24,000 unique views to the wait time app.
Davis said they will have additional training for poll workers ahead of the November elections, since some workers struggled with the new system.
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