Early voting numbers in Hamilton County are embarrassingly low. They're so bad - only 1,864 reported by Monday - I'm starting to wonder if people even know they can vote early right now.
I'm not talking about you. You're a great American, and of course you know early voting for the Aug. 4 elections runs through next Saturday. No doubt you've already gone to the polls yourself. Kudos for that. But you can't stop there, good citizen. No you can't. Now you've got to help get the word out to everyone else. Tell your friends, tell your neighbors.
Are you reading this at work? If so, go find your nearest colleague and tell them you'll drive them to cast an early ballot on your lunch break. I'm only half kidding. Better yet, get a lunch hour convoy set up with multiple co-workers. Make sure they know they get stickers if they go. That's the spirit.
Statewide poll numbers aren't all that bad - relatively speaking. Through Monday, some 42,000 Tennesseans had voted either by absentee ballot or early voting. According to State Election Coordinator Mark Goins, that's on par with the 2008 and 2012 summer election turnouts. Speculating, he suggested a few "hotly contested races" around the Volunteer State are keeping this year's tally from dipping significantly.
Columnist David MartinHere, though: ugh, horrible.
Sure, Hamilton Countians aren't seeing big-spending congressional campaign fireworks like the ones being blasted off in Tennessee's 4th (Scott DesJarlais vs. Grant Starrett) and 6th (Diane Black vs. Joe Carr) U.S. House districts. Chuck Fleischmann has enjoyed an uncommonly smooth primary season. But the absence of television, radio and internet ads clogging up our social media feeds doesn't mean there aren't plenty of good reasons to get out and vote. Anyone concerned with property rights who lives in Tennessee State House District 29 should take an interest in Rep. Mike Carter's re-election bid. And let's not forget the 10th state Senate district primary and the most contentious county assessor race I can remember.
Then there are those four Hamilton County school board races. Call me crazy, but I think those are just as important (more in some cases) as any race we've had the past few years. The school board soon will be selecting a new superintendent as well as crafting far-reaching policy affecting every person and business in the area. HCDE is an anchor institution in this community, and if the promises of Gig City are ever going to be realized, the school system, with help from the board, must thrive.
Why are we not seeing more candidate bumper stickers for those races?
Anyway, the problem with planning to vote on Election Day is that life happens, and all it takes to keep someone from voting then is one of life's curveballs - a sick child, car problems, a Pokemon Go iPhone update - being thrown at them that day.
Patrick Bobo, a volunteer with the nonpartisan Your Vote Matters initiative, said it well in an email earlier this week. He wrote, "We only get one shot on Election Day, and if we wait, we risk not having the time and opportunity to get to our precincts."
He's right, and in case you were wondering, Aug. 4 (Election Day) happens to be when Hamilton County teachers report back to work. It's just one week before the insanity of a new school year starts. Yeah, life will definitely be tossing curveballs at parents all over the county then.
So tell a friend, tell a colleague, roll your window down and tell the person in the next car over to go vote this weekend.
David Allen Martin is a syndicated columnist who writes from Chattanooga. You can email him at davidallenmartin423@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @DMart423.