With hotly contested races for mayor, district attorney and several judge and commissioner races, the number of Hamilton County voters casting ballots during early voting this year more than doubled the number four years earlier in the last county primary election.
A total of 17,266 ballots were cast at early voting sites this month, according to the Hamilton County Elections Commission. That was up 132.5% from the 2018 primary races in the county.
Another 1,855 absentee ballots have so far been submitted and counted by the Hamilton County Election Commission.
Early voting occurred from April 13 through April 28 at six locations across Hamilton County.
Among the early voters and absentee ballots cast so far, more than 81% were cast in the Republican primary. The share of those casting Republican primary ballots is likely to be higher this year due to major GOP contests for county mayor and district attorney and, for the first time ever, partisan school board elections in Tennessee.