Fate of the free world now in your hands

Early voting for the 2008 general election begins with strong morning turnout

Email | Print By Ken Whitehouse

As of 7 a.m. this morning, the beginning of the end was at hand. Today marks the opening of Early Vote in Tennessee, meaning that now you can cast your ballot for president, the U.S. Senate and a host of other races.

Ray Barrett, Davidson County's supervisor of elections, said that he has been very pleased with not only the turnout but how the process is going. He said, "Things are outstanding, we had people waiting at 7 this morning before the doors opened, some arriving as early as 6 a.m. For a while, the line went to the sidewalk at the Howard School location."

Asked about raw numbers, Barrett said more than 3,000 people had voted by 10 a.m. at the Davidson County Election Commission's main office at the Howard School. Barrett expected voting to average close to 1,500 voters an hour today.

Turnout is expected to be higher this year, not only because it is a presidential cycle, but also because Davidson County has registered more than 49,000 new voters, bringing its total to more than 360,000. Barrett said he expects 75 to 80 percent of all registered voters to have cast a ballot by election day.

Turnout looked to be strong in Williamson County, too. This morning, waits were averaging about 30 minutes, but things were running smoothly. Interestingly, the campaign volunteers were out in force in Williamson, holding up signs for Barack Obama. There was one woman who attempted to vote while wearing a McCain/Palin T-shirt, but she was made to go to the restroom and turn her shirt inside out.

Early voting will continue until Oct. 30 and Davidson County voters have 13 locations to cast their ballots. During early voting, you can vote at any of the locations, but on Election Day you will have to vote in your precinct. Barrett said his office opened more early-vote locations than in past years because of the expected overall increase in turnout.

To see where you can early vote in Davidson County, click here. To see where you can early vote in Williamson County, click here.