The two local parties will for the first time cooperate in a joint primary, becoming the largest county in Texas to experiment with what state officials hope will become a common and cost-saving practice. Polls are open from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. The parties have increasingly used the same polling places since 1980, but they've set themselves up in separate rooms. Today, however, they'll in most cases gather in the same room. Voters, already used to a combined poll during early voting periods, probably won't see much difference.
Partisans can breathe easy, however.
An Austin-based reporter for a Texas Association of Counties publication will be in town today to see how the two parties get along. As has become common in recent years, however, more than 20 percent of Taylor County voters have already turned out to do their duty. She estimates a total of 12,000 to 13,000 people will have voted by the time polls close tonight. A heated battle for district attorney on the Republican side contributed to an even higher GOP turnout this year. Almost 80 percent of early voters punched GOP ballots, compared to 75 percent in 1996 and 64 percent in 1994.