Early voting turnout low

There appears to be little interest in Texas’ Constitutional Amendment Election with only 371 of Cameron County’s 168,970 registered voters casting ballots during early voting.

Early voting began last week and as of Friday, 371 voters had taken advantage of voting early at four voting sites set up in Cameron County.

Statewide, of the 8,115,885 registered voters, only 43,965 or 54 percent had cast ballots as of Oct. 22, according to the Secretary of State’s Web site.

Early voting continues this week on the 11 proposed amendments to the Texas Constitution, with one amendment calling for the state to work with the federal government for the construction of a veterans hospital in the Rio Grande Valley.

Roger Ortiz, administrator for the Cameron County Election and Voter Registration Office, said that although foot traffic at the voting branch in Brownsville had picked up on Monday, the overall voter turnout has been dismal.

"To me it’s a real sad turnout," Ortiz said, adding he attributes the low numbers to lack of people making telephone calls and knocking on doors encouraging people to get out and vote.

Such methods are mainly used when there are local candidates on the ballot and they have supporters making the telephone calls and knocking on doors. There are no local candidates on this ballot.

At the Elections office in Brownsville, workers are encouraging those people casting ballots to remind their family and neighbors to get out and vote, Ortiz said.

During the last constitutional amendment election, approximately 6,000 of the county’s 160,000 registered voters cast ballots.

Ortiz is hoping that if people don’t take advantage of early voting that they vote on the actual Election Day.

"I hope some are waiting for Election Day to come and vote," he said.

One proposition being pushed by Valley veterans is Proposition No. 8, which would allow the state to work with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to promote the building of a hospital to treat veterans in the area.

Currently, veterans have to travel to Audie L. Murphy Memorial Veterans Hospital in San Antonio for major surgeries. Proposition No. 8 would help with the construction of a full-fledged medical facility to care for the veterans here.

The Veterans Alliance of the Rio Grande Valley is working hard to get a good voter turnout so that the proposition passes with a good number of votes, said Treto Garza, an alliance member.

The organization has been handing out pamphlets on Proposition No. 8 and will continue to do so until Election Day, Garza said.

Proposition No. 8 reads "The constitutional amendment authorizing the state to contribute money, property, and other resources for the establishment, maintenance, and operation of a veterans hospital in this state."

There are four early voting locations in Cameron County, which include the Cameron County Elections Department, 954 E. Harrison, the Central Fire Station, 121 W. Jefferson in Harlingen, the San Benito Community Building, 210 E. Heywood St. in San Benito, and the Los Fresnos Community Building, 204 N. Brazil in Los Fresnos.

All locations will be open through Friday.