Young County sees 36% turnout for first week of early voting

A surge of voters came out for the first week of early voting in the November general election, with 1,131 ballots cast on the first day.

At the conclusion of the first week of early voting Sunday, Oct. 27, a total of 4,499 voters turned out to cast their ballots, or 36.25% of all 12,411 registered voters in Young County. 

This total is up from the first seven days of early voting in the 2020 November presidential election which had a total of 3,806 voters turn out to cast their ballots, or 32.2% of all 11,820 registered voters in the county.

During the 2020 election, 8,239 registered voters turned out to vote overall, or 70.01%, from all registered county voters, according to the official Texas election results. In 2020, the county did not surpass a 50% turnout until Oct. 27, 2020, three days before the end of early voting which was extended.

Early voting will continue through Friday, Nov. 1. In Young County, early voting will be held from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 28 through Friday, Nov. 1.

Early voting locations are the Young County Annex at 417 Second St. in Graham and the Olney Community Library and Arts Center at 807 W. Hamilton St. in Olney.

Election day voting will take place from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 5 at five voting locations. Those locations will be North Central Texas College at 928 Cherry St. in Graham, Loving VFD at 8891 Hwy. 114 E. in Loving, First Baptist Church Newcastle at 501 Graham St. in Newcastle, First United Methodist Church at 700 Third St. in Graham and the Olney Community Library and Arts Center.

The deadline to register to vote was Monday, Oct. 7 and the last day to apply for a ballot by mail was Friday, Oct. 25. To check your registration status, visit votetexas.gov or contact the Young County election office at 940-521-9483.

Federal and state contested races on the ballot are for President and Vice President, U.S. Senator, Railroad Commissioner, Supreme Court Justices, Court of Criminal Appeals Judges, District 15 Board of Education, District 30 State Senator, District 68 State Representative and Court of Appeals District Justices.

Local contested races will be for County Clerk, County Tax Assessor-Collector and for the unexpired term of a city of Olney city council member.

For County Clerk, Tina Gilliam and write-in candidate Walter Harvey are vying for the seat. For County Tax Assessor-Collector, incumbent Christy Centers and write-in candidate Kendra McClatchey are vying for the seat.

For the Olney city council position, candidates Steven Nurre and Kathy Muncy are vying for the seat.

Also on the ballot is a special charter amendment election for the city of Graham with nine amendments for consideration.

To find more information about local candidates, view The Graham Leader’s local candidate guide.