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Voter Surge: Registration Jumps by 1.6 Million in Texas Since Last Midterm

The surge of registered voters come as Texas has one of the nation's hottest U.S. Senate races between U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and Democrat Beto O'Rourke, as well as a half dozen close congressional races that could determine control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

By Jeremy Wallace

The Texas voter rolls have grown to 15.6 million people, a new record, Texas Secretary of State Rolando Pablos confirmed.

That is nearly a 400,000-person increase since March and a jump of 1.6 million since the last time Texas held a midterm election in 2014, according to election records.

And there is still time for more voters to join the rolls before Oct. 9, the final day to register in time to vote in the midterm elections.

To register to vote, Texas residents can fill out an application online or contact their county election administrator's office.

The surge of registered voters come as Texas has one of the nation's hottest U.S. Senate races between U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and Democrat Beto O'Rourke, as well as a half dozen close congressional races that could determine control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Registering to vote and casting a ballot are two different things in Texas. Despite having 14 million registered voters in 2014, just 4.7 million people voted -- about 34 percent of voters. In presidential cycles, voter turnout is much higher, hitting almost 60 percent in 2016 and 2012.

(c)2018 the Houston Chronicle

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