So much for an engaged electorate. Travis County continues its long tradition of sub par election turnout with less than half a percent of registered voters either making it to the ballot box or returning their mail-in ballot.

This morning the Travis County Elections Division released the first numbers for early voting in the November 4 election, and only 0.45% of the county’s 618,200 registered residents have cast their ballot.

Low turnout elections are extremely volatile, since it all depends on whose base is most energized, rather than necessarily accurately reflecting the general political consensus. That could make life interesting in House District 50, where three Democrats – Rico Reyes, Celia Israal and Jade Chang Shepard – face off against sole Republican Mike VanDerWalle. The race is to finish off Mark Strama‘s term after he quite the legislature to run Google Fiber’s Austin expansion. Whoever wins (if they dodge a seemingly inevitable run-off) will have the incumbent’s advantage when the seat is back on the ballot in November 2014. In an ominous sign for all four campaigns, so far the Pflugerville
County Tax Office – arguably the heart of the district – saw only 100 votes cast yesterday.

That’s far from the only major issue on the ballot. There’s also a glut of constitutional amendments, including Prop. 6 – the first real proposal to put state money into Texas’ water infrastructure in decades.

Travis County Voters In Person Mail In Ballots Total %age registered voters
Day One 2,037 739 2,776 0.45
Total 2,037 739 2,776 0.45

Early voting continues through Friday, Nov. 1 and election day is Tuesday, Nov. 5. Read our endorsements here.

For more info, visit www.austinchronicle.com/elections.

This article appears in October 18 • 2013.

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The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.