Voters were able to start making their way to the polls last week as Wednesday, Oct. 14, marked the first day of early voting for the Nov. 3 2020 Election.
That day, a total of 465 votes were cast in Chester County. On top of that, 207 votes were sent in by mail prior to Oct. 14. The Chester County Administrator of Elections, Kathy Vest, said these are record numbers in comparison to recent years. In 2018, there were only 205 votes on the first day, and only 333 votes were made on the first day of early voting for the 2016 Presidential Election.
Statewide, according to the Tennessee Secretary of State the state broke the record of votes cast on, or mailed in before, the first day of early voting. By the end of the day Oct. 14, a total of 273,325 people had cast their ballot by voting early or absentee by-mail. The spike in numbers is a 91 percent increase from the first day of early voting in 2016 and a 120 percent increase over 2012.
“I’m excited that Tennesseans are engaged and are making their voices heard at the polls,” said Secretary of State Tre Hargett. “We are on pace to break our previous early voting turnout record, which was set in 2016.”
Then, after the second day, 453,858 people had voted, which accounts for over 10 percent of registered Tennessee voters according to the Secretary of State.
Going back to local numbers, by the end of Monday Oct. 19, the fifth day of early voting, 22.83 percent of registered Chester County voters had already cast their ballot in-person or by mail. By noon on Tuesday, Oct. 20 an additional 202 votes had been cast.
Early voting for the State and Federal Primary and County General election runs Monday to Saturday until Thursday, Oct. 29. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Voting takes place at 126 Crook Avenue. The polls are open from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m Monday, Wednesday and Friday; from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday and 8:30 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. The absentee ballot deadline is Oct. 27.
For early voting updates in Chester County, follow the Chester County Election Commission Facebook page.
For early voting turnout updates in Tennessee, follow the Secretary of State social media channels Twitter: @SecTreHargett, Facebook: Tennessee Secretary of State and Instagram: @tnsecofstate.
For more information about early voting in Tennessee, go to GoVoteTN.com or call the Division of Elections toll-free at 1-877-850-4959.
