Crowded Mayor’s Race Unlikely To Bring Out Voters

Early voting for the August 2nd election starts today and despite this year’s crowded metro ballot, Davidson County Election Commissioner Ray Barrett isn’t expecting a big voter turnout.

This year, there are 7 candidates for Mayor, 3 candidates for Vice-Mayor and the entire council is up for re-election.

The deadline to register to vote in the August election passed last week, and Commissioner Barrett says the number of new voters was low.

“It’s our wish in any election that we could get everybody to vote. I’m just basing it on past history and so far there hasn’t been a whole lot of activity that I’ve seen.”

Barrett says, on average, the Mayor’s race brings out about 30% of registered voters. This year’s hotly contested race for Mayor isn’t likely to bring out more. In fact, in the years when there was a runoff for Nashville mayor, not even 20% of voters turned out.