SAN ANTONIO – The beautiful weather Monday in San Antonio wasn’t enough to entice a bigger turnout for the first day of early voting ahead of the March 1 primary.
But those voters who did cast a ballot said they were glad they came out to make their voices heard, especially younger voters.
“It’s a change for the future, and in order for us to make that difference, we have to be a part of it,” said Isaac Gutierrez, a voter.
Hannah Rodriguez, who also cast a ballot, agreed:
“Because if you don’t, you know, we’re going to be stuck for a few more years and be like, ‘Oh, why am I dealing with this now?’” she said.
Early voters like Gutierrez and Rodriguez have learned what other voters like Reba Bennett have known, “If you don’t vote, you can’t complain.”
Bennett also said she was one of those voters who usually would wait until the general election to cast her vote, but not anymore.
She said the primary is an opportunity to narrow the field of candidates with someone she can support.
“I think it’s really important to get that person on the ballot as opposed to just anybody,” Bennett said.
Web Extra Video Below: Hear what Gary Teal, executive director of the Republican Party of Bexar County, and Monica Ramirez Alcantara, chair of the Bexar County Democratic Party, have to say about the issue.
Bexar County Elections Administrator Jacque Callanen said, “I know a lot of people were anxious to get started voting.”
If voters are concerned about the voting restrictions imposed by the new SB 1 Law, Callanen said, “Most of the SB1 rules that have come in have been affecting the mail ballot process. It’s too early to tell right now what we’ll have from the poll watchers at the polls.”
However, Callanen said the confusion over SB1 led to 50% of mail ballot applications being rejected by the Bexar County Elections Office because they now must include dates of birth and the last four digits of Social Security numbers.
“But now, Callanen said her office is only rejecting 10% or less.”
“Our voters are working their way through it, and we’re really proud of them,” Callanen said.
The deadline to return a mail ballot application is 5 p.m. Friday.
Callanen said the elections office has received 18,000 corrected applications for mail ballots.
“The staff is doing a great job getting those ballots out,” she said said.
Although delayed due to various factors in Austin, Callanen also said new voter registration cards will be mailed out this week.
However, she said voter registration cards are not needed in order to vote, only a photo ID or other accepted form of identification.