Absentee voting well ahead of 2016 primary, nearing level of last presidential election
Secretary of State Tre Hargett speaks with Rep. Curtis Johnson (R-Clarksville) before Gov. Bill Haslam’s final State of the State address on Jan. 29, 2018 in Nashville. (Photo credit: Erik Schelzig, Tennessee Journal)
Requests for absentee ballots are well ahead of the number cast in the August 2016 primary and are already coming close to matching the levels of that year’s November presidential election, according to data gathered by The Tennessean‘s Joel Ebert and Carmel Kookogey.
The Secretary of State’s office said it doesn’t keep track of absentee ballot requests, referring the newspaper to local election commissions. The newspaper contacted officials in all 95 counties. Eighty provided information on how many mail-in ballots had been requested as of last week, nine refused to release data, and six did not respond.
A judge last month ordered the state to allow anyone who fears infection by the coronavirus to cast absentee ballots. The state is appealing that ruling, but it’s unlikely the Supreme Court will decide the issue before the Aug. 6 primary.
About 57,000 absentee ballots had been requested as of last week. That compares with about about 12,000 for the August 2016 primary and 64,000 for that year’s general election.
A look at the percentage difference between absentee ballot requests this year and the number cast in August and November 2016 follows after the jump.
| County | August 2020 primary | Difference to 2016 primary | Difference to 2016 general |
| Anderson | 685 | 310% | -35% |
| Bedford | n/a | ||
| Benton | 100 | 49% | -39% |
| Bledsoe | n/a | ||
| Blount | 1,200 | 343% | -21% |
| Bradley | 400 | 225% | -48% |
| Campbell | 72 | -25% | -77% |
| Cannon | 50 | 47% | -62% |
| Carroll | 108 | 170% | -57% |
| Carter | 419 | 124% | -35% |
| Cheatham | 265 | 334% | -19% |
| Chester | 111 | 127% | -37% |
| Claiborne | 122 | -28% | -60% |
| Clay | 17 | -82% | -82% |
| Cocke | 216 | 167% | -33% |
| Coffee | 284 | 457% | -31% |
| Crockett | n/a | ||
| Cumberland | 789 | 393% | -26% |
| Davidson | 15,256 | 1902% | 174% |
| Decatur | 31 | 15% | -78% |
| DeKalb | 109 | 118% | -47% |
| Dickson | 570 | 239% | -7% |
| Dyer | 116 | 300% | -47% |
| Fayette | 451 | 573% | 47% |
| Fentress | n/a | ||
| Franklin | n/a | ||
| Gibson | 117 | 89% | -64% |
| Giles | 184 | 217% | -25% |
| Grainger | 216 | 184% | -11% |
| Greene | 496 | 240% | -35% |
| Grundy | 17 | -53% | -84% |
| Hamblen | 389 | 278% | -20% |
| Hamilton | 4,034 | 604% | 0% |
| Hancock | 40 | -60% | -48% |
| Hardeman | 86 | -5% | -81% |
| Hardin | n/a | ||
| Hawkins | 185 | 28% | -62% |
| Haywood | 146 | 13% | -57% |
| Henderson | 60 | 88% | -74% |
| Henry | 384 | 911% | 13% |
| Hickman | 90 | 210% | -54% |
| Houston | 145 | 101% | -12% |
| Humphreys | 233 | 124% | -4% |
| Jackson | 105 | 114% | -24% |
| Jefferson | 250 | 221% | -71% |
| Johnson | n/a | ||
| Knox | 6,500 | 634% | 24% |
| Lake | 15 | -68% | -75% |
| Lauderdale | 249 | 30% | -21% |
| Lawrence | 123 | 310% | -55% |
| Lewis | 75 | 241% | -42% |
| Lincoln | n/a | ||
| Loudon | 1,268 | 1003% | -3% |
| Macon | 81 | 69% | -35% |
| Madison | 440 | 96% | -61% |
| Marion | 127 | 154% | -56% |
| Marshall | 159 | 130% | -30% |
| Maury | 500 | 415% | -24% |
| McMinn | 256 | 266% | -43% |
| McNairy | n/a | ||
| Meigs | 95 | 102% | -20% |
| Monroe | n/a | ||
| Montgomery | 1,168 | 385% | -57% |
| Moore | 41 | 52% | -25% |
| Morgan | 122 | 259% | -37% |
| Obion | 80 | 167% | -74% |
| Overton | 108 | 59% | -48% |
| Perry | 45 | -46% | -38% |
| Pickett | 46 | 5% | -60% |
| Polk | 85 | -27% | -59% |
| Putnam | 650 | 400% | -7% |
| Rhea | 159 | 71% | -51% |
| Roane | 454 | 158% | -32% |
| Robertson | 325 | 339% | -32% |
| Rutherford | 1,757 | 626% | -4% |
| Scott | 98 | -45% | -62% |
| Sequatchie | 48 | 433% | -48% |
| Sevier | 550 | 461% | -44% |
| Shelby | 7,000 | 922% | 19% |
| Smith | 125 | 381% | -7% |
| Stewart | 92 | 2% | -61% |
| Sullivan | n/a | ||
| Sumner | 1,547 | 507% | -15% |
| Tipton | 217 | 281% | -41% |
| Trousdale | n/a | ||
| Unicoi | 120 | 82% | -44% |
| Union | 158 | 5% | -47% |
| Van Buren | 29 | 314% | -43% |
| Warren | 134 | 253% | -34% |
| Washington | 1,092 | 375% | -23% |
| Wayne | 34 | -17% | -77% |
| Weakley | n/a | ||
| White | 238 | 205% | -7% |
| Williamson | 2,046 | 1187% | -26% |
| Wilson | n/a |
(Source: The Tennessean)
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