Thursday ·
37.98% of Travis County voters have cast ballots.
Good morning, Austin.
The Briefing
37.98% of Travis County voters have cast ballots.
Through Wednesday, Oct. 28, 360,302 people had voted, 37.98% of the county's 948,575 registered voters, according to the county's unofficial daily totals. That count is 343,145 in-person early votes, 1,730 limited ballots and 15,427 mail ballots received. Wednesday brought 35,298 voters, the most of any day this week.
Early voting runs through Friday, Oct. 30, at any county site, and Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Vote Travis election page.
What's next: Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Sources: Travis County unofficial early voting totals through Oct. 28 (PDF), Vote Travis election page
City Desk
Growth & infrastructure
200 megawatts: Austin Energy signs a new battery storage deal.
Austin Energy has signed an agreement with Jupiter Power for a 200-megawatt, two-hour battery system at Jupiter's existing Austin site, expected to start commercial operation in 2030. The utility says it won't pay to build or maintain the project. The deal brings Austin Energy's battery storage portfolio to 340 megawatts, above the 300 megawatts its Resource, Generation and Climate Protection Plan set out to study by 2030.
Jupiter already has a separate 100-megawatt battery contract with the utility due online by the end of 2027.
City of Austin release, Oct. 28Nov. 12: Austin Water open house on two backup water ideas.
Austin Water is holding a come-and-go open house from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12, at the Permitting and Development Center, 6310 Wilhelmina Delco Drive, Room 1405. The topics are storing drinking water underground in the Trinity Aquifer for droughts and treating salty groundwater for drinking. The utility plans to drill test wells on City-owned land in eastern Travis County starting in 2027 to see whether either is workable. Questions go to AW-ASR@austintexas.gov. City of Austin release, Oct. 28
City Hall & county
84%: second-week weekday turnout trails the first week.
Monday through Wednesday of this week, 101,105 people voted in person at county sites, 84% of the 120,626 who voted on the same three days of the first week, Oct. 19-21. Limited ballots went the other way: 997 this Monday through Wednesday, up from 247 in the first three days.
Oct 30 Wednesday's 452 limited ballots were the most of any day so far. Seven sites stay open until 10 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, Oct. 29-30: Ben Hur Shrine Center, Lakeway Activity Center, Millennium Youth Entertainment Complex, PfISD Rock Gym, Randalls Brodie, the Travis County Clerk's office on Airport Boulevard and the UT Texas Union. Every other site keeps 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. hours.
Bulletin calculation from the county's daily totals through Oct. 28 (PDF); hours from the county's early-voting site list (PDF)
Travis CountyBusiness & street life
Oct. 31: west side of Zilker's Great Lawn reopens.
The western section of Zilker Park's Great Lawn reopens Saturday, Oct. 31, after ACL Fest load-out and annual maintenance, with parking in the Stratford Drive lot. It stays open through the holidays while the rest of the lawn shifts to Trail of Lights setup.
Oct 31 The outdoor volleyball courts are open Oct. 31 through Nov. 16, and Lou Neff Road stays closed through the holiday season.
Austin Parks and Recreation release, Oct. 27The Back Page
Early voting runs through Friday, Oct. 30.
One Good Thing: The western section of Zilker Park's Great Lawn reopens Saturday. Austin Parks and Recreation release, Oct. 27