Early Not-Voting Turnout

The May 14 City Council elections still aren't drawing much interest, despite having at least one and maybe two competitive races (Randi Shade's Place 3 seat and perhaps Chris Riley's Place 1). The nine days of early voting that ended Tuesday only brought 17,947 people to the polls, and that's all of Travis County, not just Austin. In fact, the highest turnout was not in Austin, but at the Randalls grocery in West Lake Hills, no doubt spurred by Eanes Independent School District elections. Including mail-in ballots, a total of 18,146 have been cast, constituting only 3.54% of registered county voters. On election day, polls will be open 7am-7pm, and voters must go to their local precincts. For more info, visit Election Central (austinchronicle.com/elections) or call 238-VOTE. (Williamson County residents should visit www.wilco.org/elections or call 943-1630.)