Early voting for the 2016 Presidential preference primary saw a exceptionally high number of voters turn out, with more than 1,000 residents casting their ballots during the last two days of the early voting period.
When polls closed down at 4 p.m. a total of 2,708 voters had voted since early voting opened on Feb. 10, Carter County Administrator of Elections Tracy Harris said. In comparison, a total of 2,037 people cast ballots during the early voting period for the 2012 Presidential primary election, Harris said.
Turnout remained strong for most of the early voting period. The lowest days for turnout were Feb. 13 and 15, which Harris attributed to bad weather. For the remaining 10 days of the early voting period turnout was in the triple digits each day.
The last two days of early voting saw the highest turnout of all with 500 casting ballots on Monday, Feb. 22 and 579 voting on Tuesday, Feb. 23.
After the polls closed on Tuesday, election workers removed the tally cards from the machines. The tally cards were then secured in a lockbox by two members of the Election Commission — one from the Republican party and one from the Democrat party. The box was secured with two padlocks the commissioners placed two numbered seals on the lockbox as well. After the polls close on election night, those two commissioners will open the box and the tally cards will be placed into a machine to have the votes calculated.
Each voting machine was closed and secured with two numbered seals as well.
This marked the first election held in the Election Commission’s new office at 116 Holston Ave.
“Everything has gone very well,” Harris said.
Harris said she had received no complaints regarding anything related to early voting or the polling location.
During the 2014 county and state elections early voting was held at the Carter County Courthouse and the Election Commission received numerous complaints regarding candidates campaigning in the hallways and campaign workers outside the building taking up available parking spaces and blocking the roads.
Election Commission Chairman Doug Buckles also said he was pleased with how smoothly early voting went.
“If they all go this well we’ll be blessed,” he said, adding there were a few minor glitches but nothing out of the ordinary.
Buckles also noted the number of people who took part in early voting and said he feels that is an indicator for the number of people who will head to the polls on Tuesday, March 1, for Election Day.
“I look for a very strong turnout, especially if the weather is nice,” he said.
Polls will be open from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. on Election Day as voters will head to their designated precincts across the county to cast their ballots.
For more information on the election, including to find out what precinct you are registered in, please contact the Carter County Election Commission at 423-542-1822.