(photo: Counties may offer voters special yellow rose “I Voted” stickers when casting a ballot in tomorrow’s election. The yellow rose honors the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote.)
The Center Square [By Vivian Jones]-
A total of 273,325 in-person and absentee votes have been cast by Tennesseans – a 91% increase in voter turnout over the first day of early voting in the 2016 presidential election and a 120% increase in turnout over the first day of early voting in 2012.
More than 167,000 Tennesseans cast ballots in-person Wednesday on the first day of early voting this week, and more than 105,500 absentee ballots already have been cast, according to data released Thursday by Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett.
“I’m excited that Tennesseans are engaged and are making their voices heard at the polls,” Hargett said in a statement. “We are on pace to break our previous early voting turnout record, which was set in 2016.”
The nearly quarter-million votes cast amount to more than 6% of all registered voters in Tennessee.
A record breaking 4.4 million Tennesseans are registered to vote ahead of the Nov. 3 election, a 24% increase in registered voters since the 2016 presidential election.
