(Ed.'s Note: Election day is here and the Democratic and Republican parties are choosing their nominees for the general election next November. At Precinct 54, Marylin Burns Elementary – traditionally one of the busiest voting precincts in the county – a veritable tent city has sprung up across Alton Gloor Blvd. with campaign workers for the various candidates waving signs and trying to influence voters who may happen to stop there an vote.
Will that translate into votes for the candidates? It is debatable, but candidates feel they must establish a presence there just to show they're contenders. With an eight-fold increase in mail-in ballots received this year by the Cameron County Elections Office (783), candidates who feel they may be on the losing side of that category feel they must urge their base to come out today and offset that vote. Statistically, between 60 to 70 percent of the vote is cast in the early-voting period that ended last Friday. In close races and those with multiple candidates, the election day vote can make the difference.
In some races, the results could send two candidates to a runoff election if the top vote-getter does not get 50 percent plus 1 of the total votes cast in that race. For others, it may be the and of political aspirations or an encouragement – depending on the votes they get – to try it again in the next cycle. Either way, it's been along road that will end for some and continue for others.)