Early Voting Numbers Pacing Slow – District by District Counts

Early voting is in full swing in Jefferson County for the May 5, 2026 Primary Election. Opening day for early voting was April 15th and will continue through April 30th at both the Jefferson County Election office and satellite sites in New Market and White Pine. As of eleven thirty am today, Tuesday April 21st, 1803 votes had been cast in Jefferson County. For the past several elections, early voting has outpaced election day voting by more than 20%, making early voting a strong predictor in both totals and outcomes.

In the 2022 May Primary Election, 2468 votes were cast during early voting. However, the 2022 election did not have the same dynamics as the current primary with the up ticket offices and many County Commission seats running uncontested. The last time a local primary had serious challenges in county wide seats was in 2018 and the total early vote count was 4427 with a total vote count of around 7900. The current early voting is pacing behind the 2018 numbers (day to day) at 18 votes despite a deep field of candidates seeking election for Jefferson County Commission and stiff races for the tops of the ticket.

Numbers by voting districts have not reached the expected numbers thus far and the White Pine District 3, while leading the numbers in votes cast, is not seeing much voting action in the White Pine satellite location with those voters casting their votes in the Main location in Dandridge or the New Market location.

Votes by District as of 11:30 am on 4/21/26 are

District #1 230
District #2 185
District #3 270
District #4 145
District #5 238
District #6 114
District #7 247
District #8-1 109
District #8-2 54
District #9 121
District #10 89