Emails, Alicia Phillips Pierce, communications director, Texas secretary of state, March 16, 2016

From: Selby, Gardner (CMG-Austin)

Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2016 4:55 PM

To: Alicia Pierce

Subject: Primary voter turnout

Hello again. What can you tell me about turnout in the primaries? How did it compare to past turnouts?

Thanks.

g.

 W. Gardner Selby

Reporter / News

Austin American-Statesman

PolitiFact Texas

12:02 p.m.

About 30 percent of registered voters participated in either the Republican or Democrat Primary on March 1. There was 19.89 percent in the Republican Primary and 10.07 percent in the Democratic primary. This was very close to, but not quite as high as 2008 when about 33 percent of registered voters participated in the primary. This time 22.54 percent of registered voters cast a ballot in the Democrat primary and 10.68 percent did so in the Republican primary.

To get  a percentage number higher than 2008 based on the number of registered voters, you have to go back to 1980. 1992 came close with 29 percent of voters.

http://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/historical/70-92.shtml

Let me know if you have any follow-up questions.

Alicia Phillips Pierce

Communications Director

Texas Secretary of State

From: Selby, Gardner (CMG-Austin)

Sent: Wednesday, March 16, 2016 12:40 PM

Are raw counts and such already posted? How do those compare, historically?

1:02 p.m.

You can find election night returns for 2016, including raw counts here: https://enrpages.sos.state.tx.us/

For past elections here:

http://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/historical/70-92.shtml

The raw count for 2016 was just short of 2008.

Alicia Phillips Pierce

Communications Director

Texas Secretary of State

1:24 p.m.

Sorry, that should be the raw count in 2008 is just short of 2016.

Alicia Phillips Pierce

Communications Director

Texas Secretary of State