Hamilton County officials, party leaders drum up voter participation

photo Election, vote, voting tile

TO REGISTERTo register to vote in Hamilton County, you must:• Be a U.S. Citizen• Be a resident• Be at least 18 years old• Must not have been convicted of a felony, or if you have, your voting rights must have been restored.IMPORTANT DATES• Last date to register to vote: Monday, Oct. 6• Early voting: Oct. 15 through Oct. 30.• Election: Nov. 4

Eligible but unregistered Tennessee residents who want to vote in the November election have only until Monday to sign up. And local election officials and party heads are hoping for busy polls after lackluster turnout in August.

Hamilton County Election Administrator Kerry Steelman said Tuesday there are more than 207,000 registered voters in the county, including 2,191 who have registered since the Aug. 7 local election and state primary.

The number is still low compared the last two general elections: 222,480 voters in 2012 and 210,160 in 2010, county records show.

But the election commission gets new applications every day, Steelman said.

"Some come in and fill out the application, but we also receive applications from the Department of Veterans Affairs and other groups," Steelman said.

Residents can come to the commission to register or update voting information, or they can send applications in the mail.

"Anything we receive in the mail that is post-marked by Oct. 6 will be counted in the November election," Steelman said.

Meanwhile, dozens of colleges across Tennessee partnered with the secretary of state's office for a month-long voter registration drive this month that resulted in more than 1,000 new voters.

Locally, election officials have led registration drives at community colleges and had a booth set up at the county fair, Steelman said.

Local Democrats are also pushing registration, but party Chairman Terry Lee said they are mainly focused on drumming up interest among all voters.

"Of course registration is always important," Lee said. "Right now the big emphasis for us is just to get out the vote. Right now, I'm just concerned that we will have very low turnout in November."

He said only a few races will drive voters to the polls - the 3rd Congressional District contest, where U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann is being challenged by Mary Headrick, a Democrat, and the House District 27 race between Republican Patsy Hazlewood and Democrat Eric Mcroy.

"Republicans had a terrible turnout and we had an almost nonexistent turnout in August. That's become one of the main things we have been focusing on, is just letting people know how important it is to exercise your right to vote," he said.

Local Republican Chairman Tony Sanders said the GOP has been looking to energize voters as well.

He's not so sure how much energy four proposed state constitutional amendments or local referendums on wine sales in grocery stores will build.

"The wine vote I find interesting. I don't know exactly what there is to get people out. There are people who are very passionate about the constitutional amendments, but you have a lot of people who don't know what they are about," Sanders said.

Republican Gov. Bill Haslam and U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander are also being challenged on the ballot, but Republicans consider both safe.

Also on the ballot will be a slew of municipal races.

Contact staff writer Louie Brogdon at lbrogdon@timesfreepress.com, @glbrogdoniv or at 423-757-6481.

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