Early voting begins for Texas runoff

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Ahead of the runoff election day on July 31, every vote will definitely count – maybe more than usual. Analysts predict a low turnout for the runoff that has fallen prey to the summer season and a delayed redistricting resolution.

For the first time in decades, Texans are voting in July – after court battles over district maps pushed the primary from March 6 to May 29. That fight further forced the runoff into unusual timing, competing with vacationers and other people not thinking about politics.

Early voting locations in Travis County
Early voting locations in Williamson County
Early voting locations in Hays County

High-profile statewide runoffs are an extreme rarity in Texas where GOP candidates have a had a long tradition of taking a "wait your turn' approach to seeking high office.

You would have to go all the way back to 1998 to the last time two Republicans faced off in a runoff for a major statewide office. John Cornyn emerged the winner in that runoff for Texas attorney general and went on to win the general election in the year that the GOP established as Texas dominant party.

But it is also notable that fewer than 235,000 voters participated in that year's runoff. That is about half the number that voted in the 1998 GOP primary.

In this May's GOP primary, 1.5 million people voted – about 11 percent of registered voters .

Registered voters who voted in the primary can vote in the same party's runoff election. If a registered voter did not vote in the primary, they may vote in either party’s runoff election. Early voting runs through Friday.