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2.1M And Counting: Final Day Of Early Voting Pads Record Turnout In Tennessee

Sergio Martinez-Beltran
/
WPLN

More than 2.1 million Tennesseans have already cast their ballots during early voting in the 2020 election, shattering the previous record by 38%.The total includes absentee ballots that have been received at election offices.

According to the Secretary of State’s office, every county has seen more absentee and in-person early voters than ever, heading into the final day on Thursday.

“I wanted to do it early because the day of the election, there’ll be a lot of long lines,” early voter Keith Luster said. “Plus we’re going through the pandemic. And just trying to maintain social distance and stay healthy and safe.”

Election Day turnout on Tuesday is expected to be high, though some local administrators expect a much larger share of voters will cast their votes early or by mail this year.

Absentee ballots must be received at election offices by the time the polls close on Tuesday. In Nashville there’s a drop off box to expedite the delivery process at the post office that shares the building with the Frist Art Museum at 901 Broadway.

Alexis Marshall is WPLN News’s education reporter. She is a Middle Tennessee native and started listening to WPLN as a high schooler in Murfreesboro. She got her start in public radio freelance producing for NPR and reporting at WMOT, the on-campus station at MTSU. She was the reporting intern at WPLN News in the fall of 2018 and afterward an intern on NPR’s Education Desk. Alexis returned to WPLN in 2020 as a newscast producer and took over the education beat in 2022. Marshall contributes regularly to WPLN's partnership with Nashville Noticias, a Spanish language news program, and studies Arabic. When she's not reporting, you can find her cooking, crocheting or foraging for mushrooms.
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