Less Than 10% Of Registered Voters In Hopkins County Cast Ballots During Early Voting
The early voting center in Hopkins County closed Friday with a total less than 10 percent of the county’s 24,310 registered voters casting ballots either in person or by mail. Republican and Democratic voters will have one more opportunity to select their choice from a list of candidates for state, national and local offices on Tuesday, March 1, 2022.
Early Voting Counts
A total of 1,331 early ballots were cast in the Republic Party Primary Election from Feb. 14-25, 2022, but the voting period did result in about 1 1/2 day less of early voting that was originally scheduled due to the icy weather conditions last week.
The Secretary of State’s Office notified election officials via email last Wednesday that they should match early voting hours with county hours, as a safety precaution for voters and election workers. The early voting center closed three hours early Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022, as the frigid temperatures and precipitation began impacting Hopkins County and the County Judge made the decision to close all county offices a few hours at 2 p.m. as a safety precaution. A total of 71 voters cast ballots Feb. 23 in the Republican Primary and 2 voted in the Democratic Primary Feb. 23.
The early voting center was slated to be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022. As the winter storm made some roadways slick from rain, sleet and even a little snow Wednesday, the county judge determined county offices would reopen at 10 a.m. Thursday. However, after evaluating the situation, a decision was made just after 8 a.m. Thursday for all county offices to remain closed. That meant the early voting center, located in the Precinct 2 Justice of the Peace courtroom, remained closed all day Thursday too due to the “public safety issue caused by the winter storm.”
The early voting center Friday followed that of county office, opening 1 hour later on Friday than the normal 8 a.m. start.
Another 380 voters cast ballots and one more mail ballot came in for the Republican Primary, for a total of 1,320 in-person votes and 11 mail ballots cast in Hopkins County. The 1,331 early votes cast in the Republican Party Primary account for only 5.48% of the registered voters casting ballots during early voting in that election.
Another 58 registered voters cast ballots Feb. 25, 2022, in the Democratic Party Primary. Overall, that makes 194 Hopkins County voters casting ballots in-person and 26 by mail, for a total of 220 Hopkins County ballots cast in the Democratic Primary from Feb. 14-25. That’s less than 1 percent of registered Hopkins County voters casting ballots in the Democratic Party Primary during the early voting period.
Cumulatively, that’s 1,551 Hopkins County voters or 6.38 percent of registered voters casting ballots either in-person or by mail during the early voting period for the March 1 party primary elections.
A total of 2,345 of the 23,190 registered voters in Hopkins County (10%) cast ballots during the early voting period in the party primary elections in February of 2020; 2,009 voted (8.66%) in the Republican Party Election and 336 voted (1.44%) in the Democratic Party Primary Election. Of those only two ballots were cast by mail in 2020, according to data tracked by the Secretary of State’s office.
The winners in the Primary will face the candidate elected by other parties during the November 2022 Election. If a runoff develops from the March 1 election, the runoff would be held in May, to determine which candidate’s name will be on the November ballot.
Election Day Voting
Voters in Hopkins County who have not yet cast ballots in either the Republican or Democratic Party Primary Election who would like to vote for their choice of candidates will be able to cast a ballot in either the Republican or Democratic Party Primary on Tuesday, March 1, 2022.
Hopkins County voters may cast ballots from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday for either the Republican or Democratic Party Primary Election at any of the following county voting locations:
Lutheran Church, Front Foyer, 1000 Texas Street, Sulphur Springs, TX 75482;
H.W. Grays Building, Meeting Room, 411 Beckham Street, Sulphur Springs, TX 75482;
Hopkins County Courthouse, 1st Floor Courtroom, 114 Church Street, Sulphur Springs, TX 75482;
Grace Family Church, Fellowship Hall, 2201 Loop 301 East, Sulphur Springs, TX 75482;
Hopkins County Civic Center, West Hall, 1200 Houston Street, Sulphur Springs, TX 75482;
League Street Church of Christ, Front Foyer, 1100 South League Street, Sulphur Springs, TX 75482;
Saltillo ISD, Ag Lab, 150 CR 1514, Saltillo, TX 75478;
Cumby Municipal Building, City Meeting Room, 100 East Main Street, Cumby, TX 75411;
Sulphur Bluff ISD, Foyer Outside of Gym, 1024 CR 1550, Sulphur Bluff, TX 75481;
Como-Pickton CISD, Art Room, 11017 TX Hwy 11 East, Como, TX 75411;
Miller Grove ISD, Foyer Outside of Gym, 7822 FM 245 South, Cumby, TX 75411; and
North Hopkins ISD, Administrative Building, 2294 FM 71 West, Sulphur Springs, TX 75482.
Voted ballots by mail must be received by the Early Voting Clerk no later than 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 1, 2022.
Sample Ballots
All Hopkins County Democratic Party ballots will be the same the only Democratic candidate to file for a county office was Tommy Long to serve another term as County Democratic Party Chairman. The ballot also does not include any propositions.
See the sample Democratic Party Primary Ballot below for a full list of candidates.
Hopkins County voters casting ballots in the Republican Party Primary Election on March 1 will see one of four ballots, depending on the voting precinct in which they reside. State and national offices along with 10 Propositions are on Republican ballots, along with county candidates running with no opponents for the Republican nomination.
On Page 2 of all March 1 Republican Party Election Ballot, all voters will be asked to consider voting for or against 10 Propositions. A sample for the proposition portion of the ballot is shown below:
While all Hopkins County voters will see the same US and state offices on the Republican ballots, the candidates for local county offices will vary by voting precinct. All Republican Party ballots in Hopkins County will all include the following incumbents who drew no challengers in their bid for reelection either on the Republican ticket: Robert Newsom, County Judge; Clay Harrison, Judge, County Court-at-Law; Cheryl Fulcher, District Clerk; Tracy Orr Smith, County Clerk; Danny Davis, County Treasurer; and Donnie W. Wisenbaker, County Chairman.
Registered Hopkins County Republican voters in Voting Precincts 1, 1A, 2, 2A, 8, 13, 14, 16, 25 and 36 also will see BJ Teer as the incumbent unchallenged for the Republican nomination for Justice of the Peace, Precinct No. 1.
Registered Hopkins County Republican voters in Voting Precincts 3, 3A, 4, 4A, 5, 11, 12, 17, 20, 23 and 24 will see on the ballot incumbent Brad Cummings as unchallenged for the Republican nomination for Justice of the Peace Precinct 2.
Those voting a Republican ballot Tuesday who residing within Voting Precincts 2, 2A, 8, 13 and 14 also will have on their ballots incumbent Greg Anglin with no opponent in his bid for reelection as County Commissioner for Precinct No. 2
Those voting a Republican ballot Tuesday who residing within Voting Precincts 4, 4A, 11, 17 and 20 will have incumbent Joe Price, who is unopposed in his bid for reelection as County Commissioner for Precinct No. 4.
The winners of each office will then face the candidate(s) from all other parties in the November Election.
Sample ballots may be downloaded along with other election information from the Hopkins County website, https://www.hopkinscountytx.org/, by clicking the Voter Information link.
