At the halfway mark of early voting, just 5% of Davidson County voters had cast ballots

Less than two weeks away from Election Day, early voting turnout is way down in Nashville.  

More: Early voting starts today. Here’s where to go in Nashville.

Only about 5% of voters in Davidson County cast ballots during the first week of early voting. That’s compared to 20% during the same period in the last midterm election, in 2018. 

One difference this time is the Davidson County Election Commission didn’t open neighborhood voting sites until the sixth day of early voting. But, in the two days since, the number of ballots cast has surged.  

Anne Popper cast her ballot at the East Nashville YMCA on Thursday.  

“This is our moral imperative,” she said. “So anybody that wants to vote that knows that we need to vote needs to get down here.”

Nashville’s election administrator says neighborhood voting days were reduced because officials expected turnout to be low. He notes that four years ago, Tennessee had hotly contested races for governor and senator, and that turnout in the 2018 primary was much higher than it was this year. 

Still, voting in Nashville so far lags neighboring Williamson County. The two share a fierce congressional race between Republican Andy Ogles and Democrat Heidi Campbell. 

Tennesseans still have about one more week of early voting. Find where to vote in your community by contacting your local election commission or at GoVoteTN.gov.

WPLN’s Cindy Abrams contributed to this report.