Time Ticking Down To Vote Early In Tennessee’s August Primary

Voters line up at the Green Hills library on Thursday to vast ballots early for the August primary. (Credit: Bobby Allyn)

Voters have Friday and Saturday to vote in the August 7 primary, and election officials have been urging voters to turn out early to avoid what could be long primary-day lines.

Walking out of the Green Hills library on Thursday after he voted, Tom DiNella said the school board race brought him out. There are four school board seats up for grabs. Those, combined with U.S. Senate and state legislative contests and a long list of appeals judges who voters will decide whether to keep or unseat makes this year’s ballot the longest in the state’s history. And DiNella noticed.

“It did seem quite long, and longer than I was expecting, and quite honestly, I wasn’t familiar with a lot of the names.”

Nearly half of all ballots in the last two primaries were cast early or by absentee voters. State election officials are hoping that this time that number will hit 60 percent.

Voters are required to bring a state-issued ID and a voter registration to the polls, but if you forget your registration, an election official can look it up.