NASHVILLE – Several black officials in Hamilton County say they’re hearing scattered concerns about early voting, from too few local voting sites to minority voters being quizzed by poll staffers about their photo IDs.
The officials said the two-week early voting period, which ended Thursday with 73,793 ballots cast locally, went off well in many respects.
But they say they fielded a number of complaints, especially about long lines and wait times at the Brainerd Recreation Center voting site. Early voting also took place at Brainerd, Northgate, Collegedale and the Hamilton County Election Commission on Amnicola Highway.
Chattanooga Councilman Moses Freeman, who is black, said many black voters live in Brainerd, but there are also many minority and poor voters in South Chattanooga neighborhoods including Alton Park, St. Elmo and East Lake, where there was no early voting site.
“I’ve always thought there should have been more,” Freeman said. “I think in a way there’s some degree of voter depression when you don’t have one in a one major community like South Chattanooga” where there’s a “significant amount of minorities” and “no reliable transportation.”