Get ready to step right up and cast your ballots.
Thursday is Election Day in Tennessee as voters head to the polls to make their choices in a number of local races as well as Republican and Democrat primary elections for state and federal positions. The ballot will also feature retention elections for the judges serving on the Tennessee Supreme Court and Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals.
On Tuesday, election officials opened the county’s voting machines for inspection and all of the equipment now stands ready for tomorrow’s election.
Polls at the county’s 22 precincts will be open from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. on Thursday, said Carter County Administrator of Elections Tracy Harris, adding that any voter already in line at 8 p.m. will be allowed to vote.
Harris reminds voters to make sure to bring their identification with them to the polls on Thursday.
“It must be a state or federal issued photo ID,” Harris said, adding that college ID cards are not an acceptable form of identification for voting.
Early voting numbers were down this year, Harris said, which could be an indication that voter turnout on Thursday will be lower than in previous years.
Today, election workers will be preparing the precincts to open for voters tomorrow. The Election Commission office will close today at Noon so staff can prepare for a busy day tomorrow.
One of the things election officials will be working on at the precincts today is marking off the 100 foot boundaries around the polling places. Under state law, no campaign materials — such as signs, pamphlets or banners — are allowed within 100 feet of a polling place, Harris said. Additionally, candidates or those campaigning for candidates must stay outside the 100 foot boundary and no soliciting of votes is allowed inside the boundary.
Once the polls close on Thursday, election results will begin to be announced. The first numbers to be released will be the results from early voting and absentee ballots, Harris said. Precinct results will be announced as they come in. Once all the precincts have reported in, final unofficial results will be released. Results are not official until they have been certified by the Carter County Election Commission.
On Friday morning, election officials will begin the vote canvasing process and will continue until all the ballots have been canvased. After canvasing is complete, the Carter County Election Commission will meet to certify the election results and send them in to the state.
Races appearing on the ballot for the August 4 election are as follows:
Carter County
• Assessor of Property —one candidate: Ronnie Taylor.
• County Commissioner District 1 unexpired term — one candidate: Robert Acuff.
• County Commissioner District 3 unexpired term — one candidate: Bradley Johnson.
• County Commissioner District 8 unexpired term — two candidates: Kelly Collins and Rick Richardson.
• Constable District 7 unexpired term — one candidate: Ken Potter.
• Circuit Court Judge 1st Judicial District unexpired term — one candidate: James Lauderback.
• Carter County School Board Member District 1 — two candidates: Noel Church and Craig Davis.
• Carter County School Board Member District 4 — one candidate: Rusty Barnett.
• Carter County School Board Member District 6 — three candidates: Steve Chambers, Kelly Crain and Jesse James.
• Carter County School Board Member District 8 — one candidate: Jerry Stout.
City of Johnson City
• Juvenile Court Clerk — two candidates: Suzan Sell Mitchell and Jared D. Taylor.
Republican Primary:
• U.S. House of Representatives 1st Congressional District — two candidates: Phil Roe and Clint Tribble.
• Tennessee Senate 4th Senatorial District — four candidates: John Paul Blevins, Neal Kerney, Jon Lundberg, and Tony Shipley.
• Tennessee House of Representatives 3rd Representative District — one candidate: Timothy Hill.
• Tennessee House of Representatives 4th Representative District — two candidates: John B. Holsclaw Jr. and Tim Lingerfelt.
• State Executive Committeeman District 4 — two candidates: Matthew Jerry Johnson and Jack Young.
Democratic Primary:
• U.S. House of Representatives 1st congressional District — one candidate: Alan Bohms.
• Tennessee Senate 4th Senatorial District — no candidate filed.
• Tennessee House of Representatives 3rd Representative District — no candidate filed.
• Tennessee House of Representatives 4th Representative District — no candidate filed.
The Carter County Election Commission office is located at 116 Holston Ave., Elizabethton. For more information on the meeting, upcoming elections or voter registration questions, contact the office at 423-542-1822 or by email to elections@cartercountytn.gov.