Sheryl & Erskine OglesbyChattanooga runoff election
April 11District 7 Chris Anderson Erskine Oglesby, Jr.District 9 Yusuf Hakeem Demetrus Coonrod
Early voting for runoff election
March 22 - April 6Election Commission Office700 River Terminal Road Chattanooga, TN 37406Monday-Friday: 8 a.m.-7 p.m., Saturday: 9 a.m.-noonMore information: Contact the Hamilton County Election Commission at 423-493-5100 or visit its website at elect.hamiltontn.gov.
The Hamilton County Election Commission has approved the ballots and early voting hours for the Chattanooga runoff election.
Two city council races will take place in the April 11 runoff election: District 7, pitting incumbent Chris Anderson against challenger Erskine Oglesby, Jr. and District 9, with incumbent Yusuf Hakeem facing Demetrus Coonrod.
Early voting begins March 22 and ends April 6 and takes place at the Election Commission Office on Amnicola Highway. Unlike the city runoff election in 2013, voters will have three extra hours during the week to cast early votes. Instead of closing at 4 p.m., the office will stay open to 7 p.m.
The commission ultimately made a 5-0 decision to change the hours after Commissioner Kelvin Scott, a Democrat, pushed for the change.
"When you have one location, you need longer hours," Scott said, citing concerns that people will not be able to vote early if they don't get off from work before 4 p.m.
Commissioner Ruth Braly, a Republican, countered that early voting hours "had always been that way."
Commission Chairman Michael Walden, also a Republican, urged Scott to make a motion on the matter.
Initially, only Commission Secretary Jerry Summers, the commission's other Democrat, voted in support of Scott's measure.
"Good try," Walden after dead silence followed the Democrats' two "aye" votes.
Commissioners Braly and Chris Clem said they didn't vote yet because they wanted to discuss the issue first.
Walden then interjected with an "aye" before any other discussion took place, saying that the voting hours had been extended to 7 p.m.
When asked to confirm the vote total, Summers claimed it was 3 in favor and two abstentions, but Braley and Clem said they would also vote to make it unanimous.
The Chattanooga city charter requires a runoff election for any race in which no candidate receives a majority of votes cast - 50 percent of the vote total plus one vote. When that happens, the two candidates with the most votes rematch in a runoff.