Victoria County reported 16,239 total votes cast through Oct. 28, according to county election data. That is 27.5% of the county's 58,995 registered voters. Of those votes, 14,737 were cast in person during early voting, including 1,454 on Wednesday alone.
Another 1,502 mail ballots had been returned, which the county said is 71.2% of the 2,110 ballots mailed to voters. Some voters cited public safety, religious values and Second Amendment rights as reasons for taking part. Jenny Smith, a Victoria resident, said public safety and maintaining the country's Christian identity were important to her decision.
Statewide, Texas had recorded more than 5.67 million early votes through Oct. 27, according to the Texas secretary of state's office. That is roughly 30% of the state's approximately 18.9 million registered voters. An analysis by The Texas Tribune found that about 21% of registered voters had voted at the same point in 2022, and turnout at the same point in 2018 was 24.3%.
Early voting runs through Friday. Election Day is Nov. 3. Early voting figures do not show how people are casting their ballots, and Texas does not register voters by political party.