Primary Election, 05 March 2024

Wildfire Texas, February - March 2024 

From 26 February 2024 through 12 March 2024, a series of lethal wildfires broke out in Texas’s north-western counties in the Texas Panhandle (USDA, 2024). The fires rampaged throughout the region in several counties including Hutchinson County, Moor County, Howard County, Rusk County, Upshur County, Jasper Couty, Polk County, Roberts County and Hemphill County. Wildfire perimeters from 7 March 2024 show Roberts and Hemphill Counties experienced significant damage to their agricultural crops including winter wheat, alfalfa, cotton, corn and sorghum fields (USDA, 2024). In addition to the destruction of crops and grasslands, hundreds of homes were burned, thousands of livestock were killed, and ranching infrastructure was obliterated (USDA, 2024).  

Among the several 2024 wildfires was the Smokehouse Creek Fire, the second largest in US history. In addition to forcing residents to evacuate and cutting off power to homes and businesses, the wildfire killed at least 2 individuals and burned 1.2 million acers of land (Earth.org, n.d.; McCausland & Kim, 2024; Foxhall, 2024). In response to the fire outbreak, Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration for 60 counties (McCausland & Kim, 2024). Hutchinson county was one of the areas impacted the most by the Smokehouse Fire (McCausland & Kim, 2024). The National Weather Service warned residents of the neighboring city, Amarillo City, to stay indoors due to poor air quality (McCausland & Kim, 2024),  

During the Texas winter season, wildfires are anticipated due to the dry, dead and dormant vegetation; however, according to scientists, climate change has exacerbated the frequency and intensity of wildfires in the Texas panhandle (Foxhall, 2024). Moreover, scientists warn that climate change perpetuates record-setting temperatures, dry air quality, and strong winds, which are key conditions for wildfires to ignite (Erdenesanaa & Flavelle, 2024). Climatologists note that temperatures in Texas have risen by 0.34 degrees Celsius per decade since 1975 and warn that climate change is making the wildfire season start earlier and last longer (Erdenesanaa & Flavelle, 2024).  

Impact on electoral processes

The 2024 presidential primary elections in Texas were scheduled for 05 March 2024, just a week after the Smokehouse Creek Fire ravaged counties in the Texas Panhandle. Due to the fires cutting off electricity, some polling places were out of power (Oliva & Kessler, 2024). Other polling locations had to temporarily close, likely due to the risk of nearby fires (Oliva & Kessler, 2024).  

Changes in procedures 

According to the Assistant Secretary of State for Communications Alicia Pierce, the drawbacks of the wildfires notwithstanding, “due to the resiliency and preparedness of the people of the panhandle, they’re ready to have elections” (Oliva & Kessler, 2024). Despite being the county most impacted by the Smokehouse Fires, Hutchinson County polling places were open as scheduled from 7:00 to 19:00 (Oliva & Kessler, 2024). Hutchinson County and others across the panhandle were equipped with fireproof ballot storage and generators (Oliva & Kessler, 2024). One polling location had to shut down because of a local fire, yet polling officials were able to access fireproof ballot storage to ensure the elections could continue successfully. According to Pierce, these adjustments were a result of Texas officials having emergency weather procedures established.  

Voter turnout    

The voter turnout during the 2024 Texas Presidential Primaries was 18% which was a 7% decrease from the voter turnout in 2020 of 25.3% (Park & Salhotra, 2024).