Early voting for the Carter County general election and the state primary is underway and runs through July 30. Voters can cast ballots at the Carter County Election Commission Office, located at 116 Holston Ave.
Early voting is a matter of making elections more convenient for voters. That’s particularly important in a state like Tennessee, where workers often work unusual hours that make it difficult to show up at the polls during the standard Election Day hours of 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Before early voting, there often were long lines at polling places and some voters would leave rather than endure the wait.
Early voting has changed that. It has helped cut the waits considerably and given voters the opportunity to vote at their own convenience.
Not too many years ago, we were only afforded the opportunity to vote on Election Day. But now, the statewide early voting period offers us the freedom to choose when we want to vote.
However, remember that to receive a ballot, voters must show a state or federal-issued photo ID in order to vote in person, whether during the early voting period or on Election Day, Thursday Aug. 4.
Examples of acceptable forms of ID, whether current or expired, include driver’s licenses, U.S. passports, Department of Safety photo ID cards, U.S. military photo IDs and other state or federal government photo ID cards. College student IDs are not acceptable.
While we have fond memories of those days when Election Day was considered “a big deal” to people, the one-day voting period didn’t always allow for the best turnout of voters. But not only has early voting proven tremendously popular, it also allows more people the opportunity to vote at times and places convenient to them. That, we think, is helping to increase the number of voters participating in recent elections.
The right to vote defines our great nation as a democracy. This essential American right, that is all too often taken for granted, has evolved over years of struggle by many Americans to ensure that all eligible citizens be afforded the opportunity to exercise this basic right.
But voting is more than just our right or privilege — it’s our civic duty to help decide who will lead our governments on every level.
Every vote matters, every vote is counted and your vote is just as important as every other person’s.
We urge all eligible voters to go to the polls, and it would not be a bad idea to take advantage of the convenience of early voting. Whether voters cast their ballots early or on Election Day, however, it is important they participate in this most basic expression of democracy.