Despite some hard-fought primary campaigns in some Southeast Tennessee counties, area election officials mostly described turnout during the two-week early voting period as average.
“It has been an uneventful two weeks for early voting,” Bradley County Director of Elections Fran Green said Thursday afternoon.
Early voting statewide began April 14 and ended Thursday.
Bradley election officials said Thursday that 7,094 voters cast early ballots, including 6,698 Republicans and 386 Democrats. That compares to the 2006 early voting tally of 8,593.
That year had the same type of ballot as this one, Ms. Green observed Thursday: a nonpresidential election year led by campaigns for county mayor and county sheriff.
Unlike 2006, when the sheriff’s race dominated the attention, this spring it has been the county mayor’s race that stays in the spotlight.
Elsewhere in the region:
Bledsoe County reported 515 early voters, with 364 Republican and 151 Democratic ballots.
Franklin County had 2,455, with 2,269 Democratic and 186 Republican ballots cast.
Marion County reported 1,666 early votes cast. Interim Elections Administrator Judi Rogers said the software wouldn’t allow her to classify the votes by party, but she added that “very few” Republican votes were recorded.
Ms. Rogers said turnout was about the same as in previous years.
“The only time you see a real difference is in the presidential primaries,” she said.
WHAT’S NEXTCounty primary elections will be held Tuesday. Poll hours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. EDT.
McMinn County tallied 3,763 early votes, including 3,324 Republican and 439 Democratic ballots.
In Rhea, 2,417 votes were cast, with 1,323 Democratic and 1,094 Republican ballots.
Grundy, Meigs and Polk counties could not be reached for results at press time Thursday.
Coming Sunday, complete election preview