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Early voting ended last week with millions of ballots cast, showing a mild decrease from the same point in 2020, but some improvement over other recent presidential elections.
More than 2 million people voted early in Tennessee, according to the Secretary of State’s Office, representing about 42 percent turnout ahead of Election Day. In 2020, more than 3 million voters participated between early voting, absentee ballots and Election Day, representing about 68 percent turnout. That number beat the state’s record of 2.6 million total votes in 2008.
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According to numbers published Friday, this year’s statewide early voting total, including early absentee votes, was 2.2 million. That’s about 2.9 percent less than the early voting and absentee totals in 2020, reflecting more than a 60,000 increase in in-person early voters but also a 60 percent drop in absentee ballots, which spiked in 2020 due to the pandemic.
Still, the number of in-person early votes broke the state’s record.
“Tennessee’s early voting period ran smoothly, thanks to the dedication of local election administrators, staff and poll workers,” Doug Kufner, a spokesperson for the Tennessee Secretary of State, said Friday. “Enthusiasm across Tennessee through the 14 days of early voting was evident, as Tennessee saw more than 2.13 million registered voters cast their ballots in person — a new record.”
Davidson County had more than 209,000 early and absentee voters, according to the Davidson County Election Commission’s website, representing 48 percent of active voters. But while early turnout was up by tens of thousands of voters from 2016 and 2012, Davidson County saw more than a 13 percent decrease from early voting in 2020, suggesting turnout will fall short of the last presidential election.
Any decrease in voter turnout is especially bad in Tennessee, which ranked 51st — or dead last — in voter turnout in 2022 and is consistently toward the bottom of the pack.
Fifty-seven of Tennessee’s 95 counties, including some areas of Middle Tennessee, were ahead of their 2020 early turnout numbers. Wilson County, for example, had about a 4.3 percent increase in early votes cast over 2020 with more than 58 percent of voters casting ballots to date.
Seventy-six counties exceeded their in-person turnout, which Kufner said was a good sign for overall turnout this year.
“We anticipate a robust Election Day turnout, and we encourage all registered Tennesseans who have not yet voted to make their voice heard on Nov. 5,” Kufner added.
Voters will have one more opportunity to cast a ballot on Tuesday when in-person polls will be open until 7 p.m. Unlike early voting, Election Day ballots must be cast at your assigned polling location. Voters can check their assigned polling place on the state’s website.
