Bastrop County set a record for ballots cast on the first day of early voting, outpacing the number of votes recorded during the first day of early voting in the 2016 presidential election.

The Bastrop County Elections Department recorded 2,862 early votes cast on Monday — 10 percent higher than the number of early votes cast during the first day of early voting in the November 2016 election that featured Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in a heated contest for president.

Tuesday’s voting numbers followed suit with 2,431 ballots cast, also a record for the second day of early voting.

“What is driving Republicans out to vote is issue-based, and the issue is: do we want to stall the economic trajectory we are on or do we want it to continue?” said Diana Greenwood, who chairs the Bastrop County Republican Party.

Aside from economic concerns, Greenwood said she noted “a dramatic increase in Republican enthusiasm” following last month’s Senate confirmation hearing of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh amid sexual misconduct allegations levied against him.

“Americans across the country and Texans across this state saw those hearings for what they were, a shameful attempt by the Democrat Party to stop the constitutional process of appointing a justice to the Supreme Court because of ideology and power,” Greenwood said.

Cheryl Reese, chair of the Bastrop County Democratic Party, believes that the local turnout record can be attributed to Democratic Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke who has energized Democrats in the county. O'Rourke is challenging incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz.

“(O'Rourke) drew nearly 1,000 people at two public rallies in Bastrop and Elgin over the past year,” Reese said. “His positive message has been refreshing to people seeking change from the current divisive political climate.”

Reese also attributed Bastrop County's voter turnout increase to local campaigns that have drawn people out to election forums and meetings with Democratic candidates in Smithville, Bastrop, Elgin and Cedar Creek over the past four months.

Voting complication resolved

This weeks’ historic voting numbers emerged despite a snag at the county’s most popular polling location. On Monday, an elevator at the Bastrop County Courthouse caused complications as a motor broke down and prevented several people from making their way to the polling center on the building’s basement level.

“A lot of people can’t do stairs, if they’re in a wheelchair or walker or what have you,” said Bastrop County District Judge Chris Duggan, whose courtroom was transformed into a makeshift polling location after the elevator failed. “Normally it’s not a problem because they come in, take the elevator one floor down, and there’s the polling place.”

After a day of running ballots upstairs to Bastrop County’s disabled or geriatric voters, county employees spent Monday evening tearing down the Bastrop County district courtroom — located on the building’s first floor — and reinstalling polling operations. Courtroom benches and desks were removed while ballot boxes and fold out tables were hoisted up flights of stairs to fill the room. District judges rearranged their dockets and moved their courtroom proceedings to the sheriff’s office, where they're using a small courtroom in the law enforcement center.

“It was hectic,” Duggan said. “To me, it was just a great coming together.”

“Between the election administration office, these folks that work out here on a temporary basis, the General Services [Department] — they all came in and moved it all into the courtroom,” Duggan said.

The polling location at the county courthouse will remain on the first floor of the annex building for the remainder of the early voting period, officials said. The courthouse location has been the most popular early voting location in the county, receiving about 50 percent of early votes cast, according to Bastrop County election records.

Other early voting locations include the Elgin Public Library, Smithville City Hall and Cedar Creek United Methodist Church. Early voting runs through Nov. 2.

Registered voters top 47,000

The Elections Department received about 1,400 new voter applications this cycle, ratcheting up the county’s total number of registered voters to its highest ever — 47,462.

“We have worked very long hours, nights and weekends to make sure we were able to get every application entered,” said Elections Administrator Bridgette Escobedo. “We’ve been working 14 to 16 hour days for a few weeks now. We’ve also hired three temp workers to help answer phones and assist voters with any questions they may have.”