Tennessee sets new voter turnout record
A record number of Tennessee voters cast ballots in this year’s general election.
Here’s a release from Secretary of State Tre Hargett’s office with the details:
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A record-breaking 3,045,401 Tennesseans, or over 68 percent of active and inactive registered voters, cast ballots in-person during early voting and on Election Day or absentee by-mail in the Nov. 3 presidential election.
Voter turnout and participation handily beat the previous record set during the 2008 presidential election when 2,618,238 cast their ballots.
“For months, our office has worked with election commissions and health officials across the state to ensure that in-person voting was clean, safe and secure,” said Secretary Hargett. “Traditionally, Tennesseans prefer to vote in-person. We’ve said it for months, and yet again, voters showed their confidence in the safety precautions in place and their preference to cast a ballot in-person by showing up in record numbers at the polls.”
Counties must submit certified election results to the Division of Elections by Monday, Nov. 23.
Unofficial election results are available on our website at elections.tn.gov.
“We would not have seen the record numbers of voters have such a smooth voting experience during a pandemic without the months and countless hours of planning by Tennessee’s 95 election commissions, administrators, and staff,” said Coordinator of Elections Mark Goins. “Thanks to the roughly 17,000 poll officials who stepped up to serve their communities and carry out all the planning to provide Tennesseans with a safe and secure in-person voting experience.”
Tennessee also broke the early and absentee by-mail turnout record during the two-week early voting period in this election. A comprehensive report of in-person and absentee by-mail turnout during early voting by county with comparisons to 2016 and 2012 is available on GoVoteTN.com.
Early voting down 8% compared with 2018 primary
Early voting was down 8% compared with Tennessee’s 2018 primary election featuring a heated governor’s race and another open U.S. Senate seat.
Republican voting was down 11%, while Democratic turnout was up 2%. GOP voters still showed up in far greater numbers than Democrats, 354,600 to 215,790.
Only 21 counties saw increases in Republican early voting, led by a 63% growth in Washington County in the heart of the 1st Congressional District, where 16 Republicans are vying to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Phil Roe (R-Johnson City). Other counties in the district posing GOP gains included Unicoi (21%), Sullivan (14%), Sevier (11%), and Grainger (8%). Turnout decreased in the district’s remaining counties: Jefferson (-9%), Hamblen (-13%), Greene (-21%), Johnson (-23%), Hancock (-28%), and Cocke (-30%).
Democratic turnout saw its biggest boost in Davidson County, where early voting was up 53% compared with two years ago. Knox County also saw a Democratic gain of 29%, while GOP turnout dropped 10%. In Hamilton County, Democrats saw a 24% increase but Republican turnout also grew 19%.
In Shelby County, which usually accounts for the state’s largest turnout for both parties, Democratic early voting was down 4%, while GOP balloting cratered by 25%.
The full early voting list by county compared with the 2018 primary follows below.
