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Opinion: Cooper’s Corner – Setting a city voting record

Staff File Photo / Elections Programmer Nathan Foster makes sure computers and the network are set up and ready for the first day of early voting at the North River Civic Center in Hixson prior to a previous election.
Staff File Photo / Elections Programmer Nathan Foster makes sure computers and the network are set up and ready for the first day of early voting at the North River Civic Center in Hixson prior to a previous election. Staff File Photo / Elections Programmer Nathan Foster makes sure computers and the network are set up and ready for the first day of early voting at the North River Civic Center in Hixson prior to a previous election.

By Clint Cooper 5 min read

Nearly 40% voted in 1990

Early voting for the Chattanooga city election starts next week, and Mayor Tim Kelly has made an appeal to voters to set a new record for the number voting.

The record, he said, is just over 30,000 votes in 2001 – 30,853, to be exact – and he hopes the electorate will “shatter that record and prove that Chattanooga stands up, speaks out and supports those who serve us every day.”

Kelly, of course, is on the ballot for a second term, but his opposition is minimal.

He also wants voters to support a ballot initiative that would allow the Chattanooga Police and Fire departments to hire recruits who live across the state line in Georgia or Alabama.