SAN ANTONIO – The voter turnout in the Super Tuesday election in Bexar County exceeded the expectations of elections officials, with just over 130,000 voters casting ballots.
The heavy turnout meant long lines and long waits for voters at many polling sites across the county.
“I will be the first to admit it, it came up short,” Bexar County Elections Administrator Jacquelyn Callanen said. “I apologize to those people who were in line.”
Callanen said there was simply not enough equipment in place at many voting sites to handle the huge turnout.
She said another issue was slow-moving lines because voters had questions about the primary election process and registration.
“We had a tremendous amount of people that showed up at the polls that were not registered,” she said.
Population growth in the county since the last general election meant that many voters had not voted in Bexar County and were not registered, Callanen said.
With this election in the books, Callanen said the focus is now on the runoff elections on March 24 and city elections in May.
She praised her staff for their hard work during the primary election and said they’ll be ready for the next rounds of voting.
“I just want to shout it from the rooftops,” Callanen said. “I have the best staff in the county.”