Early voting ends Thursday; general election on tap Tuesday
Early voting turnout continues to be strong in Anderson County, with the Election Commission reporting a total of 21,565 people casting ballots in the first 11 days, through Monday, Oct. 28.
Of those, 20,471 were machine-cast ballots at the three early-voting locations, amd 1,094 were mail-in paper ballots.
That’s on pace for a record, county Elections Administrator Mark Stephens said.
Early voting will end as of 6 p.m. tomorrow (Thursday, Oct. 31), with Election Day coming next Tuesday, Nov. 5.
With three days left as of Tuesday morning, early voting accounted for just over 40% of the county’s 53,576 registered voters.
If the pace so far continues, there could be a total of more than 27,560 people voting early, which would be more than half of the county’s 53,576 registered voters.
That could help lessen the wait times for live voting on Election Day, this coming Tuesday, Nov. 5, especially considering that only about 70% of Anderson County’s registered voters turned out for the 2020 presidential election.
Anderson County’s voter turnout this year could hit 80%, Stephens said Monday.
“We’re looking at a record both for early voting and for overall turnout this year,” Stephens told The Courier News. “We’ll probably see 10-12,000 people vote on election day.
“But we want as many as possible to vote early,” he said. “It’s more convenient.”
There are three locations for early voting in Anderson County: the Anderson County Fair Association Building at 218 Nave St., Clinton; the Midtown Community Center (Wildcat Den), 102 Robertsville Road, Oak Ridge; and the former Anderson County government office at 3310 Andersonville Highway, Norris.
Early-voting hours today and Thursday are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
On Election Day, voting hours will be 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., and there will be 28 voting precincts open throughout the county. Ballots must be cast at the polling place in the precinct where the voter is registered.
The list of precinct voting locations appears in the sample ballot on Page 8A.
At the top of the ballot is the U.S. presidential election, where there are multiple candidates running.
But the real race there is between former President Donald J. Trump, who won the Tennessee primary election as the Republican candidate, and the Democrat candidate, current Vice President Kamala Harris.
The ballot also includes some Tennessee statewide races, along with municipal elections in Clinton, Oak Ridge, Norris, Oliver Springs and Rocky Top.
Among the statewide races, U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn is facing Democrat Gloria Johnson and three independent candidates. U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann faces Democrat Jack Allen and two independents.
Republican Rick Scarbrough is facing Democrat Anne Backus for District 33 in the Tennessee House of Representatives; while state Rep. Ed Butler, a Republican, is being challenged by Democrat Joel Derek Hawn in state House District 41.
In Clinton, Lucas Heaton is facing Robert Herrell for the Ward 1 City Council seat; Larry Gann is unopposed for the Ward 2 council seat; and Matthew Foster is unopposed for the Ward 3 seat.
For the Clinton city Board of Education, three candidates are vying for two Ward 1 seats. They are Deborah J. Heaton, Republican; Joey Smith, Republican; and K.K. Meredith, independent. In Ward 3, Merle Pryse is unopposed as an independent candidate.
In Norris, seven people – including the five incumbents – are seeking election to the City Council.
The incumbents are Mayor Chris Mitchell, Vice Mayor Charles P. Nicholson, Bill Grieve, Loretta Ann Painter and William Grinder.
Challengers are former Councilman Ron Hill and newcomer James “Lee” Ragsdale, who was the only one of the seven candidates who did not show up for the recent council election forum that showcased those running for the five council seats.
In Oak Ridge, four candidates are running for three City Council seats. They are Jim Dodson, Derrick M. Hammond, Charles “Chuck” Hope Jr., and Ruth Pless Rizzie.
For Oak Ridge city judge, James T. “Jim” Normand is running unopposed.
Five candidates are running for two Oak Ridge Board of Education seats.
They are Republican Mary Crank, Democrats Ashley Craven and Tiffany Malone, and independents Sharon Gleason and Keith Jeter.
There also is a charter amendment on the ballot in Oak Ridge that would make Board of Education elections nonpartisan.
In Oliver Springs, Char-Lee Bailey and Kenneth T. Brown are running for the Ward 1 alderman seat on the Town Council. Terry Holland is running unopposed for the Ward 5 seat, and Becky Devaney is unopposed for Ward 6.
In Rocky Top, only one person is on the ballot for two open seats on the City Council. Keith Daniels is the only candidate for seats being vacated by Stacy Phillips and Zack Green, who both chose not to run.
Both said their busy work and personal schedules make it hard for them to find enough time to handle City Council duties.
Because no write-in candidates qualified for the ballot, either, the new City Council will have to take applications and choose a person to fill the unclaimed spot, Stephens said.
