The Howard Office Building, which houses the Davidson County Clerk’s office, is one of the most popular polling locations. On Friday morning, it was bristling with campaign signs for the dozens of candidates running for local offices, including mayor and Metro Council.
Even before the doors opened at 8 a.m., there was a small line of people waiting to cast their ballot.
Ashley Blum was one of them. She said she usually votes early because she’s too excited to wait. Although Blum is generally enthusiastic about the democratic process, she feels that this is an especially crucial mayoral race.
“We really need a mayor who is going to bring a lot of attention to affordable housing and homelessness services,” she said. “It’s just really important get a good person into that seat, so we can make some real change in Nashville.”
Another habitual early voter, Randy Reed, encouraged Nashville residents to do their homework before they made their way to the polls.
Rose Gilbert WPLN News The parking lot was lined with campaign signs from dozens of mayoral and Metro Council candidates.
“There’s a lot of people running for mayor and for at-large seats,” he said, “A lot of the candidates I feel are not that different, it’s more nuanced. I had to look at what really aligned with my values and what’s important to me.”
More: Nashville’s mayoral race: Who’s in? Who’s out?
Dakota Galban also cast his ballot Friday morning. He says he hopes that more people, especially young people, will vote in municipal elections.
“It’s really important to pay attention to who’s running your city,” he said. “You should really pay attention to the stuff that goes on with your local government because it really can impact your daily life.”
Early voting will continue for the next two weeks, with the last day of early voting on Saturday, July 29. You can find the full list of early voting locations and times here.
Those who wait to vote until the general election on Aug. 3 will need to vote at their designated polling place.
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