Tennessee nears all-time voting record

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — It's not even election day, but already more than half of Tennessee's registered voters have already cast their ballot in the 2020 general election.

According to the Secretary of State's office, 2,280,767 voters voted in early voting. The 2016 presidential election had 2.5 million voters.

Six Tennessee Counties saw early voting totals surpass total vote totals from the 2016 election: Cheatham, Davidson, Loudon, Rutherford, Williamson, and Wilson. Each county had more than 60% of eligible voters already show up to the polls.

“These record numbers demonstrate voter confidence in the hard work of election officials across the state. County election commissions across the state have worked diligently to administer a safe, sensible and responsible election during early voting and we will see the same thing on Election Day,” Secretary of State Tre Hargett said in a press release.

Davidson county has 253,000 votes counting both early voting and absentee ballots. The all time record from 2008 is 268,000 votes.

Political analyst Pat Nolan said breaking the record is almost inevitable.

"I think we ought to give voters a compliment for voting no matter who they voted for," said Nolan. "I think it's important to participate in Democracy that they're going to do it this time."

Nolan said gathering voting totals may take longer because of increased voter turnout, though.

You can see a county-by-county comparison comparing the first 14 days of voting between 2016 and 2020 here.

The deadline has passed for absentee votes to be sent through the mail, but they can still be dropped off at designated post offices by 3 p.m. Tuesday. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on election day. You can find your polling location on the GoVoteTN site.