News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Over 11,700 people have cast their votes for the 2018 midterm elections in Putnam County as early voting draws to a close.
Election Commission Administrator Debbie Steidl said that number is slightly higher than the 2014 midterm election.
“We just hope people will come out today, or tomorrow, or on election day,” Steidl said. “We give people plenty of time after work to come by, too, on Thursday evening.”
Thursday is the last day for the early voting period. As of Monday, over one million votes have been cast across the state of Tennessee, nearly three times the turnout as the 2014 election.
Steidl said the early voting numbers typically do not indicate how well voter turnout will be on Election Day.
“During the Presidential race in November 2016… we were real busy, and then on election day we weren’t as busy as we thought we were going to be,” Steidl said. “So it very well may be people are coming out and voting now, but there’s just no way to tell.”
Steidl said people can still cast their early votes through Thursday between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. at the Election Commission office, located on County Services Drive in Cookeville.
In Fentress County, just over 3,600 people have cast their ballots during early voting. Cumberland County currently holds one of the largest voter turnout rates in the state, ranking fifth with about one-third of registered voters participating in early voting. More than 14,000 people have already cast their votes in Cumberland County ahead of Tuesday’s election.
