Nearly half votes cast locally in General Election were done during early voting

Posted Wednesday, November 4, 2026 12:00 am

Cockrell: Voter turnout 42.2 percent

By Tom Marshall

Senior Advocate writer

Nearly half the votes cast in the November General Election were cast via early voting, according to the County Clerk's Office.

Of the more than 8,700 ballots cast, 43 percent of them were from some form of early voting, County Clerk Chris Cockrell told the Advocate Wednesday.

The number was 34 percent during the General Election four years ago, Cockrell said.

The numbers show early voting is accomplishing what lawmakers hoped to achieve—making voting more convenient, he said.

Cockrell said the overall turnout for the election came to 42.2 percent, which was just shy of his pre-election forecast of about 45 percent and less than four years ago.

And the vote tabulating went much faster than in previous years due to a new effort this year.

To speed up the process, Cockrell said two poll workers from each voting site Tuesday—a Democrat and Republican—were dispatched from the site with the thumb drives containing the results while the other poll workers shut down the location.

By 7:06 p.m. Tuesday, all but the write-in votes had been counted. The write-ins were counted and added to the totals by about 8 p.m.

It took some time to count all the write-ins because there were 602 in the case of one candidate who filed for office locally, Cockrell said.

Only those filed as write-ins have their votes counted. Those who write-in fictious names or others are not counted in the official numbers, he said.

Cockrell thanked all the poll workers for their service to the process over some long hours.

He also thanked the school system for use of the elementary schools as voting sites on Election Day, the road dept, Fiscal Court, Sheriff's Office and numerous others who contributed to a successful election this year.

Among those he thanked were the voters themselves, for making their voices heard.

"There's a lot of moving parts that go into making a smooth election," Cockrell said.

Other than the Clay Center, Camargo Elementary School was the next most utilized voting site Tuesday, followed by Northview, Cockrell said.

He said more voters took advantage of the elementary school sites Tuesday. The clerk's office encourages the public to use the elementary schools as an option on Election Day in addition to the Clay Center.

As always, Cockrell encourages the public to exercise their civic right to vote when the opportunity arises.

Included with this posting is a cumulative results report for the general election held 11/3/2026 in Montgomery County.

Please note that due to space constraints this week's paper includes the cumulative results reports in just the contested races.

There were several unopposed races.

We have also included a story below that appears in this week's Advocate regarding the Montgomery County Judge-Executive's race.

When we went to press this morning, we had not received a statement from Chris Haddix.

Haddix has since issued a statement, which appears here.

Haddix stays county’s top chief

By Tom Marshall

Senior Advocate writer

Republican Chris Haddix held on to his seat as head of county government with a victory over Democratic challenger Akeem “Coach” Scott Tuesday night for the Montgomery County judge-executive position.

Unofficial results from the Montgomery County Clerk’s Office show that Haddix received 5,641 votes or 65.74 percent compared to 2,940 or 34.26 percent for Scott.

"I would love to take this time to simply say, 'Thank you," Haddix shared on social media.

"The love and support that people have shown me over the last couple of days has been so encouraging and heartwarming. Thank you for believing in me and trusting me with another term and opportunity to serve you. Thank you for taking the time to cast your vote and let your voices be heard. I will continue to keep working hard for you all," Haddix added.

Haddix offered special thanks to his wife, Linda.

"I can’t say thank you enough to my amazing wife and best friend, Linda. She is the glue that holds all things together. I could not live out my dreams if she was not there to support me."

Scott also issued a statement on social media.

“First, I want to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for giving me the strength and guidance throughout this journey,” Scott said.

Scott thanked his supporters, his wife, family, and all those who stood beside him during his campaign. He congratulated all winners and said he prays they “lead with wisdom, humility and a heart for the people you serve. The responsibility of leadership is great, and our community deserves your very best.”

Scott said he loves Montgomery County and will “continue caring about our families, speaking up for our community and doing my part to help us move forward together.”

There will be new faces on the Fiscal Court.

Republican Jon Kelly Johnson won the race for County Commissioner in the 1st District with 4,702 votes or 55.72 percent, compared to 3,736 for Democrat challenger Floyd Arnold.

In the County Commissioner District 3 race, Republican Mark Terry received 5,560 votes or 90.23 percent. Challenger Bruce E. Witt received 602 votes as a write-in candidate.

Daniel Carmichael was unopposed in District 2.

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