Early voting turnout hits 15 percent, tops 2006
By SHANNON CRABTREE scrabtree@leader-news.com

The early ballots cast in March primaries more than totaled the number of votes during the 2006 election.

By the time early polls closed at 7 p.m. Friday, a total of 3,617 votes had been cast - 1,959 in Wharton, 1,479 in El Campo and 170 via mail.

That's 15 percent of the total 24,241 registered voters in Wharton County before a single ballot was cast when the polls opened at 7 a.m. Election Day.During the 10-day early voting period, the last day, Friday, Feb. 28, drew the most balloters with 907 vote cast from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. that day. Thursday, Feb. 27, was the next heaviest day with 489 ballots cast.

While nationally the hotly contest race for the Democratic presidential nomination between Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama is driving that party's turnout numbers up, locally the debate over who should be the Wharton County district attorney has apparently evened the balloting.

Wharton attorneys John C. Maher Jr. and John Roades squared off on the local Democratic ticket while attorneys Josh McCown, the incumbent, and Dawn Allison, both of El Campo, went head to head on the GOP ballot (please see related story).

In early voting, Democrats had just a 323 ballot lead over Republicans at Wharton County polls with 1,970 Democratic votes and 1,647 in the GOP primary.

Conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh's calling for Republicans to cross over to vote for Clinton could be reflected somewhat in Democratic balloting.

The only other local representative race contested at the primary level is the U.S. 14th District seat currently held by Ron Paul. He faced a challenge from Chris Peden, a Friendswood CPA.

In the 2006 primary (not a presidential election year), a total of 3,449 votes, or 14 percent, were cast in the entire balloting period.

In 2004, the last presidential election, about 16 percent (3,751 voters) cast ballots in Wharton County in comparison to about 12 percent statewide.

County turnout rates in March primaries were 24.6 percent in 2002, 28.2 percent in 2000 and 25.3 percent in 1998.