Early voting picks up the pace

Early voting for the Dec. 16 runoff election picked up slightly Wednesday, with just under 1 percent of registered voters casting ballots. In all, 5,366 votes were cast, bringing the total for the first three days to 9.749 — just 2.64 percent of registered Travis County voters. The heaviest turnout continues to be in the West Austin voting stations, with the Randalls at Braker Lane and Research Boulevard leading the pack with 539 votes Wednesday, followed by the Ben Hur Shrine Temple with 409. Early voting runs daily through Dec. 12. More information is available at the Travis County Elections website.