Tulsa County and other surrounding counties saw increased early voter turnout compared to previous midterms.
In the 2022 midterms, there were around 16,000 early voters in Tulsa County. This year, that number skyrocketed to over 26,000 across the four days of early voting, a 62% increase. Tulsa County Election Board Communications Director Ronni Pierce said this increase is likely due to the addition of two new early voting sites this year: Chandler Park and O'Brien Park.
"The fact that we had record-breaking numbers, over 26,000 early voters, definitely had to do with opening up all of those four locations," Pierce said.
According to unofficial reports from their respective county election boards, Osage County saw over a 50% increase in early voter turnout compared to 2022, Wagoner County nearly 38% and Rogers County around 32%.
Despite midterm elections historically having lower voter turnout than presidential elections, this year's early voter count beat Tulsa County's numbers from 2024 by a couple hundred. Pierce said it's difficult to estimate how crowded polls will be on Election Day.
"In the mid-morning, early afternoon hours are usually the least populous for voters," Pierce said. "But we can't even say that this year."
Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday. Polling locations can be found here.
