(READ MORE: Tim Kelly, Kim White proceed to runoff in Chattanooga mayor's race)
(READ MORE: Most Chattanooga City Council seats decided, two runoffs set)
Modest turnout kept polling places running smoothly in Tuesday's Chattanooga city election.
As of Tuesday morning, election officials were expecting about 12,000 to 14,000 total voters, representing about 20% of those registered to vote in the city.
The lower turnout in city elections kept lines reasonable for those who did vote Tuesday. Even in the last hour of polls being open, voting precincts largely avoided lines.
"Things were very smooth today with very little complaints," Hamilton county Administrator of Elections Scott Allen said as polls closed. "Turnout appears to be as we expected."
Those who did turn out were happy to shape the city's future by selecting a new mayor and city council members.
"It's just that all of the issues in our city require us to come together, whoever we are, and get on the same page, and that's racial issues and education and equal pay and everything else," one District 8 voter said after voting to re-elect Councilman Anthony Byrd.
"I have voted in every election since I was 18 because it's just that important," the 41-year-old added.
(READ MORE: What you need to know for Chattanooga city elections on Tuesday)
Other voters were drawn to city elections for the first time this year.
Pepper Osher, 56, doesn't remember ever voting in a city election before, but said she felt it was important to get involved this time.
"You know I always vote in the presidential and for the Senate, but I don't think I have ever voted for mayor," she said after voting at Mountain Creek Church of Christ, where there were no lines outside around 6 p.m.
"It just felt like it was important for me to get involved this time so I read some about the candidates," she said, noting that her father sent her a Times Free Press voting guide to read. "So I voted for Kim White because I liked some of what she had to say and she seemed like she was good and established and had done a lot of work with businesses."