Primary Election, 05 March 2024

Wildfires, 26 February 2024–10 March 2024  

From 26 February through 12 March 2024, a series of lethal wildfires broke out in north-western counties of the Texas Panhandle (USDA 2024b). The fires rampaged throughout Hutchinson, Moor, Howard, Rusk, Upshur, Jasper, Polk, Roberts and Hemphill counties. Wildfire perimeters from 7 March 2024 show Roberts and Hemphill counties experienced significant damage to agricultural crops including winter wheat, alfalfa, cotton, corn and sorghum (USDA 2024b). 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 2024a).  

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

During the Texas winter season dry, dead and dormant vegetation means that wildfires can be expected; however, climate change has exacerbated the frequency and intensity of wildfires in the Texas panhandle (Foxhall 2024). Moreover, climate change perpetuates record setting temperatures, dry air quality and strong winds – which are key conditions for wildfires to ignite (Erdenesanaa and Flavelle 2024). Temperatures in Texas have risen by 0.34 degrees Celsius per decade since 1975, making the wildfire season start earlier and last longer (Erdenesanaa and Flavelle 2024).  

Impact on the electoral process  

The 2024 presidential primary election in Texas were scheduled for 5 March 2024, just a week after the Smokehouse Creek Fire. Due to the fires some polling places were without power, while others had to temporarily close, due to the risks posed by fires nearby (Oliva and Kessler 2024).  

According to Texas’ 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 were] ready to have elections” (Oliva and 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. Here and elsewhere across the panhandle, polling locations were equipped with fireproof ballot storage and generators – only in one instance was accessing ballot storage unsuccessful (Oliva and Kessler 2024).  

Voter turnout during the 2024 Texas presidential primary was 18 per cent, a significant decrease from turnout in 2020 which was 25.3 per cent (Park and Salhotra 2024).