Tennessee statewide turnout down during early voting

Tennessee’s statewide early voter turnout this year was down 2.89% compared to 2020. One key difference was far fewer absentee ballots — down 61% — compared to the special permissions allotted during the pandemic.

More: Tennessee voters in their own words

In all, 2.2 million Tennesseans have already voted. That’s an estimated turnout of 45.9%, according to the Tennessee Secretary of State.

Williamson County saw the highest turnout, as is common, with more than 61% of registered voters. The most popular location was the Brentwood Library.

Davidson and Shelby counties saw the most voters, each with more than 200,000 — but voter turnout there has also been substantially lower this year than in 2020.

Compared to 2016, however, early voting was far more popular, up by 32% across Tennessee. More comparisons are available online here.