Bexar County Elections Administrator Jacque Callanen speaks to reporters half-way through the first day of early voting on Oct. 24. Credit: Michael Karlis

The number of ballots cast in Bexar County midway through the first day of early voting reached pre-pandemic levels, Elections Administrator Jacquelyn Callanen told reporters during a Monday press briefing.

Nearly 15,000 people cast ballots during the first five hours of early voting, Callanen said. That’s comparable to the quantity cast during the same period during the 2018 midterms and 2,000 more than during 2020’s general election.

Beyond this year’s increase in in-person voting, Bexar County has also experienced an uptick in poll watchers.

“This is the first time in a long time that, when the judges got to their sites this morning, there were already poll watchers there waiting for them,” Callanen said.

Poll watchers sent by both Republican and Democratic candidates, including Texas Railroad Commissioner hopeful Luke Warford, were present at around half of Bexar County’s voting stations this morning, according to Callanen’s estimates.

Despite the unusually high number of observers, voting this morning remained conflict free, Callanen said. Most poll watchers “moved on” by the afternoon, she added.

The 2022 midterms mark the first time election observers can exercise their expanded privileges under Texas Senate Bill 1 and House Bill 3107. Those bills, championed by Republicans in the state legislature, allow poll watchers unparalleled access to the voting process, including the right to “see and hear the election officers conducting the observed activity,” according to the sates official poll watchers guide.

Even so, poll watchers are barred from interfering with the election process and talking directly to voters. Those who are the victims of voter intimidation should file a complaint with the Bexar County Elections office.

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This article appears in Oct 19 – Nov 1, 2022.

Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...