Early Vote Ends Down From 2010

Early voting was sluggish in Tennessee, despite controversial amendments to the Tennessee Constitution that many predicted would bring voters to the polls for a strong early vote. Across the State of Tennessee, only seven counties logged more early voters in this election cycle than in the November 2010 race and most of those, such as Knox County with a 92 voter increase, are minimal. Blount County stands alone in showing a heavy increase in early voting over the 2010 numbers, bringing in 578 more voters this election cycle according to the Tennessee Secretary of State election information. Though Blount County does have a significant increase in voter turnout for early voting, it is likely that local contested races are driving those numbers. Poll watchers have suggested that the lack of a heavily contested race for Governor has fewer people going to the polls, however the flip side of the same coin is that it is unlikely that the Governor’s race is drawing voters to the polls, meaning the driving force in many precincts are the amendments and, for some, the possibility of wine in grocery stores.

In Jefferson County, the Secretary of State shows early voting running 372 ballots behind November 2010. As of close of early voting last week, the State numbers logged 5,030 ballots cast in Jefferson County, as opposed to 5,402 in the November 2010 early voting. Recent elections have found Jefferson County nearly split in early voting and Election Day voting. It remains to be seen if the numbers will hold true on November 4, 2014. Extenuating factors such as weather and no highly contested State or local race could contribute to the final tally. An uneventful Governor’s race could also impact the passage of the proposed amendments. Not only will the amendments require a majority vote for passage, they must also garner ½ plus one of the number of votes cast in the Governor’s election to be successful. With the language on the amendments being described as cumbersome by some voters and Haslam the strongly projected winner of the Governor’s race, passage numbers may by difficult to achieve.