Turnout in Texas: Success is Relative

By Jillian Gaier
43 percent. Thats lower than President George W. Bushs average Gallup approval rating
during his time in office. Lower than the audience score of the 1980 cult classic film Xanadu
on Rotten Tomatoes. Its even lower than the current odds of the Golden State Warriors winning
the NBA championship, according to Nate Silver. But 43 percent is still higher than the portion
of Texans who cast a ballot in the presidential election earlier this month.
One of the largest and most populated states in the nation, Texas ranked fifth-to-last in
voter turnout this year with only 42.62 percent of its voting-age population showing up to the
polls. While the state was far from rivaling the reputable ranks of Minnesota and New
Hampshire, Texas did surpass some personal goals.
According to the Texas Secretary of States office, Texas registered over 1.5 million more
voters in 2016 than in 2008. Additionally, 800,000 more Texans voted in this years general
election than they did eight years ago. Many individual counties across the state saw their highest
registration and turnout rates ever. After a quick celebration, these local victories should be
evaluated to determine successful get out the vote techniques for future growth.
Polk County, which is an hour north of Houston, displayed a turnout rate of 87.36 percent
this year, over 30 points higher than 2012s rate. Polk Tax Assessor-Collector Leslie Jones Burks
said she did not do anything differently this year that would explain the recent boom.
I sat through the lunch hour at a high school in Livingston to help students register but
by the time the bell rang, I only had one person approach me, Burks said.
The county has a voting-age population of over 30,000, including what Burks refers to as
escapees, retired individuals who travel around the country and require absentee ballots. For
all those people, Polk has only three volunteer deputy registrars (VDRs).
1

Similarly, Brooks County did well with voter registration without having any VDRs.
Anna Garcia, who serves as the elections administrator in the county, said she never used social
media, but instead capitalized on word-of-mouth.
Its a small community so I try to get to know people and take an interest in their
questions and concerns, Garcia said. If I have to stay [at the office] a little later than normal to
answer emails, I have no problem doing that.
There are only about 5,500 adults in Brooks, so outreach could be inherently easier.
Meanwhile, Polks neighboring county, Hidalgo, earned some of the lowest registration and
turnout numbers in the state.
Located at the southern tip of Texas, Hidalgo County saw a registration rate below 60
percent and a turnout rate below 30 percent. Hidalgo Elections Administrator Yvonne Ramn
said low civic engagement is a constant fight that she works all year long to combat.
We start by going to the universities in the county, Ramn said. But we also attend
health fairs, parental meetings, community meetings, political group meetings. If the
organization is partisan, we register voters before and after the meeting but we have to wait
outside during the duration of it.
In addition to enlisting 878 VDRs, the Hidalgo Elections Department is active on social
media, posting on its Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages on a daily basis. Ramn said
department staffers even attend U.S. citizen ceremonies to register new Americans as soon as
theyve finished taking the oath.
But the results simply arent up to par.
When asked about possible explanations for low political involvement, Ramn cited the
demographics of the county, which consists of over 90 percent Latinos. She said that growing up,

she felt as if there was no border because she would go to Mexico just as frequently as Mexicans
entered Texas. And according to Pew Research Center, voter registration and turnout among
Hispanics have been the lowest of all racial and ethnic groups for over twenty years now.
Success is relative. Our voter registration rate may not be that high compared to other
counties, but it was an improvement for us, Ramn said. Weve never gone over 330,000
registered voters and now finally, were over 338,000.
Still, questions are left unanswered. How do counties with limited voter education
programs, like Polk and Brooks, score so well while counties with extensive campaigns, like
Hidalgo, flail and falter? Alicia Pierce, a spokeswoman for the Texas Secretary of State, said
voting is a decision that varies from person to personand even from year to year.
Since Texas is a reliably red state, some people may not feel its worth it to come out
and vote, Pierce said. It can also depend on how much the candidates excite them.
UT student Joe Van Donk is a prime example. He said he educated himself on the issues
but didnt feel comfortable giving any of the candidates his stamp of support. Beyond that, Van
Donk said he was discouraged by the shortcomings of the Electoral College.
America is technically a democracy, but thats kind of a misleading term, Van Donk
said. Unless you live in a swing state, your vote doesnt have much value. If the popular vote
was what decided the election, I wouldve been more motivated to get to the polls.
With so many factors at play, its nearly impossible to come up with a conclusive reason
as to why one county saw higher registration and turnout than another. The ideologies of people
that live in the county, the number and techniques of the VDRs, the candidates themselves and
even the weather in that region on Election Day could influence the outcome. Moreover, there

are political groups and non-partisan agenciesfunctioning independently of the statethat

contribute to the broader get out the vote movement.
Hook the Vote, a politically neutral organ of the UT student government, worked during
the duration of the fall semester to do just that.
We tried to have a presence at as many events on the UT campus as possible, said Hook
the Vote Director Bailey Schumm. We went to everything from Party at the Plaza, where we
thought there would be a lot of freshmen, to the line at the Kanye West concert. Whatever it takes
to get students registered.
The agency consisted of 30 Travis County VDRs who wanted to change the fact that
Millennials are drastically less likely to vote than members of Generation X and Baby Boomers.
In part thanks to Hook the Vote, Travis registered over 90 percent of its voting-age population.
Only 52.19 percent of adults in the county ended up voting.
This election is going to affect us just as much as, if not more than, it will affect our
parents, Schumm said. Theres no reason why our numbers shouldnt be larger.
State Rep. Matt Rinaldi (R-Dallas) said he believes voter education is the first step to
increasing civic engagement in Texas, especially among young people.
People feel more inclined to vote if they know whats on the ballot, Rinaldi said. To
be honest, we shouldnt want uninformed people to vote anyway. They cancel out the votes of
people who are really passionate about the candidates.
Rinaldis district shifted about 20 points to the left since 2008; Clinton won there by eight
points this year. Yet Rinaldi was still able to win back his seat in the Texas House.
I outperformed the top of the ticket in my district by over 10 percentage points so that
shows I have broad-based appeal, he said.

Rinaldi did not mention any unique campaigning methods, although incumbents
generally have an edge with money, volunteers and resources. However, Rinaldis opponent,
Dorotha Ocker (D-Dallas), certainly gave the incumbent a run for his money. District 115 held a
competitive, two-point racethe closest the district has ever seen. Ocker emphasized her
thorough campaign strategy that included knocking on doors, sending flyers in the mail and cold
calling potential voters.
To make things easier, we really encouraged people to vote straight ticket, Ocker said.
Instead of having to find my name on the ballot, I told them to just mark the box at the top for
the Democratic Party.
While many Texas counties and the state overall improved their numbers from previous
elections, data collected by the Texas Secretary of States office still shows a large gap between
registration and turnout rates. Less than 43 percent of eligible voters in Texas made it to the
polls, but more than 78 percent of them registered before the October 11 deadline. UT student
Ryan Lieberman said he regretted not voting after choosing to abstain.
It was such a historic and life-altering election; I wish I was part of it in some way,
Lieberman said. I think a lot of peoplenot just mesaw the long lines and just got
discouraged. Theyre so busy that even if they want to vote, its hard to find the time.
State Rep. Rinaldi said those who think registration and voting are two sides of the same
coin are not looking at the data. He thinks separate efforts need to be made because high
registration rates do not always translate into high turnout rates.
According to Pierce, the Secretary of State traveled to more than 24 cities within Texas
this fall to educate potential voters and help them understand the new voter ID requirements. Her
office plans to continue its voter education program in the future.

Our overall goal is to close the knowledge gap, Pierce said. Accessibility should never
be the reason that people arent going to the polls. And if higher voter turnout develops from our
work, then thats, of course, a plus.
In addition to Polk, counties with high voter turnout rates include McMullen, Roberts,
Sterling, Kent, King, Borden and Edwards. While Hidalgo County ranks among the bottom six,
Frio, Webb, Starr, Garza, Willacy and Mitchell also displayed rates below 28 percent of all
eligible voters.

NOTE: Voter registration and turnout rates are not always entirely accurate because the percentages are a
function of population estimates. All data in this article was derived from information collected by the
U.S. Census Bureau and the Texas Secretary of State.