Early voting sees 11K in Sullivan County, 3.7K in Hawkins

Early voting ended this past weekend, after running for two weeks. Here are the unofficial turnout numbers. Sullivan County This year's early voting total in Sullivan County for the Aug. 6 election was 11,036 — comprised of 9,045 Republican primary voters, 1,871 Democratic primary voters and 120 who chose to cast only general election ballots. In contrast, the early voting for the August 2018 primary and general election was 11,854; there were 10,058 Republican primary ballots cast, 1,671 in the Democratic primary and 125 who cast only general election ballots. 2018 was the last time there was a contested gubernatorial race with no incumbent. In both election cycles, the largest early voting cumulative turnouts were on the last Friday, the penultimate day of early voting. For this year, that was 945 GOP primary voters, 186 Democratic and 15 who cast ballots only in the general election. That trend was the same in 2018, when the Friday before the last day of early voting saw 1,145 voting in the GOP primary, 215 in the Democratic primary and 18 only in the general election. Hawkins County In Hawkins, 3,703 ballots were cast early. The majority were for the Republican primary and local general election; 408 were for the Democratic primary and general; 28 were for the general election only. Most ballots came from the in-person polling places in Rogersville and Church Hill, with the latter garnering 64 more votes. There were more Republican ballots cast in Rogersville, but Church Hill had twice as many Democratic voters and over four times as many general only ballots. Other early votes include 105 from absentee ballots and 24 from nursing homes. What's next Election Day is Thursday, Aug. 6. Polling places will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., with 25 precincts in Sullivan and 19 in Hawkins. Administrator of Elections Jason Booher urged voters to be sure they go to their assigned polling place or precinct on election day; information is available online. He also said voters should bring a government-issued photo identification, usually a driver's license. Voters may not go to early voting locations unless that is their assigned election day polling place, he said. As for a projection turnout for Aug. 6, Booher for Sullivan County predicted a turnout of 24,000 to 25,000, compared to the turnout of about 26,300 in August of 2018. Local races the ballot range from county commission seats and other county offices in both counties, as well as a contested District 1 state House race in the GOP primary in Sullivan County. Kingsport also has school board and Board of Mayor and Aldermen races on the ballot within the Kingsport city limits of both counties. Winners in the local general races will take office Sept. 1. The winners of the state and federal primaries will face each other and independent candidates in the Nov. 3 general elections.