It's Election Day!

EDINBURG — Hidalgo County voters are set to buck the trend of being among the top-ranked in the state to turn out to early election polls.

In fact, this campaign season the county is near the bottom of the state’s 15 most populated counties for the percentage of registered voters who have cast their ballots during the early voting period, according to county Elections Administrator Teresa Navarro.

“It’s been pretty disappointing,” she said. “We have never been that low in this type of election.”

The local trend mirrors statewide early voter participation this year. So, election officials are skeptical if turnout for today’s regular voting will be much better.

Out of Hidalgo’s 280,000 registered voters, roughly 2,000 went to the polls early and voted. Early voting began Oct. 22 and ended Friday.

Today's Election Day polls close at 7 p.m.

In the 2005 election, there were about 5,000 early voters. Navarro said early voter turnout can reach as many as 60,000 people in elections that involve high-profile candidates.

She said she hopes that 5,000 to 6,000 voters show up at the polls today.

“I don’t know if there is a just a lack of interest overall or what it is,” Navarro said. “There is only so much we can do.”

This election, also known as a constitutional amendment election, is weighed down with 16 propositions that include five ballot questions that add up to a potential approval of more than $9 billion in financial bonds.

Possible changes to student loans, eminent domain, cancer research, disabled veterans, Internet access to state Legislature votes and highway projects will be determined today.

“I think it’s becoming more concerning every election in that fact that these laws are being passed with such a small voice,” said Raul Salazar, executive administrator for the League of Women Voters of Texas.

Salazar calls elections with candidates “more sexy.”

“We like to put faces to things and if we can’t put a face to an issue, it is hard for us to relate, especially when the ballot language is so convoluted,” he said. … Some of these issues are so hard to sell that they just kind of lie flat and no one kind of pays attention until it passes.”

Mark Murray, a government instructor at South Texas College, said the public’s high disapproval rating of the federal government and the presidential administration can impact local elections.

“The trust in government is going down and people just don’t think their one vote is going to matter,” he said.

Still, Robert Nelson of Mission is one of the few expected to cast his vote today.

“I vote in every election,” he said. “…That is your privilege being an American. If you don’t vote, you have not right to complain if things don’t suit you concerning the election.”

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Jackie Leatherman covers Hidalgo County for The Monitor. She can be reached at (956) 683-4424.

What to know before you go to the polls:

*Bringing your voter identification card is the quickest way to verify your voting right at the polls. The only other acceptable identification is a Texas driver’s license.

*The Hidalgo County Web site (www.co.hidalgo.tx.us) lists polling places or call (956) 318-2570 to learn more information.

*Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

*Results from early voters will be posted on the county’s Web site after 7:01 p.m. Officials expect a final vote count by 9 p.m. and are set to update the Web site frequently.