A record breaking number of Carter County residents turned out for early voting during this election.
Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m. the polls for early voting closed down. Those already in line at closing time were allowed to cast their ballots. The day also saw the highest turnout of voters during the early voting period with 959 residents showing up to cast ballots.
When all of the numbers were added up, a total of 11,547 Carter Countians had taken part in early voting.
“It has beat all records,” said Carter County Administrator of Elections Tracy Harris.
The previous record was set in 2008 when 10,190 county residents took advantage of early voting.
“That was our number we had to beat,” Harris said, adding this year surpassed the record by 1,357 votes. The early voting turnout for the election also surpassed the turnout for the Presidential Preference Primary election that was held in March. A total of 11.314 county residents cast ballots in the primary election.
In total, Harris said, there are 33,583 registered voters in Carter County. With the early voting turnout, 34.38 percent of the county’s eligible voters have already cast their ballots for the Nov. 8 election.
Harris expects the overall number of voters during this election to also be record breaking.
After the polls were closed on Thursday, election officials recorded the machine votes on tally cards, which were then sealed into a lockbox. The box was locked and sealed by a representative of each of the two major parties — Republican and Democrat — with a pad lock and numbered seal tag.
The votes on those tally cards will not be counted until after the polls close on election day Nov. 8. After the polls close, the party representatives of the two parties will unseal the box and turn the tally cards over to Harris and her staff for tabulation.
Today, the voting machines which will be used in the county’s various precincts were open for public inspection. On Monday, those machines will be transported to the precincts by election officials and secured until the polls are ready to open on Tuesday. When the polls open Tuesday morning, Harris said the officer at each precinct will run a “zero tape” which shows no votes have been cast on the machine prior to the polls opening.
The Carter County Election Commission office will close at Noon on Monday to allow election officials to assist in setting up the machines and signs at the precincts.
For more information on the Nov. 8 election, contact the Carter County Election Commission at 423-542-1822 or at their office, which is located at 116 Holston Ave., in Elizabethton, next to the Carter County Health Department.