About 526 Murfreesboro voters were met with short lines as they cast their ballots on Election Day from the morning until the early afternoon.
Some voters say they were in out of the polling location at Central Magnet School in less than 10 minutes. At times, there even seemed to be more poll workers than people voting.
A poll administrator, however, says volunteers did see a lot of voters who hadn’t cast a ballot since the 2004 and 2008 elections. A local group also organized transportation to the site for students attending Middle Tennessee State University. There was also a small group offering water and food to voters as they exited the polls.
Still, Central Magnet, which served as a polling location in the general election, processed about half the votes it saw during the same time period in August, according to poll officials.
For the voters who did show up by the afternoon, some took pictures next to Election Day signs with their “I Voted” stickers, while others weren’t excited at all.
Funk musician Kevin Mabin told WPLN News that although he voted for former Vice President Joe Biden, in the back of his mind he felt that voting didn’t matter.
“It was more so to try and help get the administration that’s in there now out,” said Mabin. “I feel like they’re all one and the same.”
Mabin said he didn’t expect much from President Donald Trump or Biden, but that he felt it was his civic duty to participate in the election.
“It’s kind of one of those things where you feel like you’re supposed to do it,” said Mabin. “[But] in the back of your head you’re saying, ‘Whatever, this doesn’t really affect us as much as we think.'”
Another voter, Kathleen Stratton, was happy to vote in the election. She supported Trump in 2016 and voted for him a second time this afternoon.
“I believe in everything he stands for,” said Stratton, who works for Murfreesboro City Schools. “I believe he’s Christian. I believe he has the best interest of our country at heart.”
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