Hamilton County voters this year visited the polls early ahead of Thursday’s election in numbers that beat the early turnout for the two most recent midterm primaries.
The county has seen nearly 10,000 more votes cast this early voting cycle, which ran from July 16 to Aug. 1, than in every midterm primary since 2018, according to the Hamilton County Election Commission. A total of 31,543 people voted early. Hamilton County has 218,764 registered voters.
The early voting turnout rate this year was 14.4%, compared to 8.5% in 2022 and 10.8% in 2018.
The high turnout followed a record-breaking first day of early voting.
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The high early voting in Hamilton County is a divergence from the overall trend of low participation in midterm primary races in Tennessee and nationally.
The breakdown of Republican and Democratic ballots cast during this year’s early voting period — 54.5% Republican and 43.5% Democratic — is generally consistent with past years.
Election day is Thursday. Polling locations are open from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. The election is both a state and federal primary and a county general election.
Contests include the general election for Hamilton County mayor, six contested Hamilton County Commission seats and four contested positions on the Hamilton County school board. Those general races are in addition to primary races in three area Tennessee House contests and for Tennessee governor, the U.S. House and U.S. Senate.
Voters can choose among three ballots because of the simultaneous general and primary elections and because Tennessee voters do not register as members of a party, as the state has open primaries.
Voters can choose between a Republican and a Democratic ballot for the state and federal primary races. Each of those ballots will also include the county general election races. Voters can also request a general ballot, which will include only the county general election races.
(READ MORE: What to know about Hamilton County’s August 2026 election)
If voters decide to pull a Republican or Democratic primary ballot, they have to sign under penalty of perjury that they are affiliated with or are members of the party in whose primary they are voting.
The general election ballot is given to someone who doesn’t identify with a party and is not participating in either of the Republican or Democratic primary races.
Contact politics reporter Ruby Rayner at rrayner@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6556.