NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Nashville Mayor Karl Dean has sounded off on a voting controversy after the Davidson County Election Commission threatened to close early voting sites over budget concerns.
In no uncertain terms, Dean blasted the decision to have only one polling site open for early voters.
Dean said he's already increased the commission's budget by nearly $ 1 million, and that shutting down voting locations is no way to increase the budget.
“It seems to me that what the election commission should be doing instead of threatening not to conduct elections appropriately is talking to the administration or talking to the council,” Dean said. “I don’t think doing something like this and saying ‘give us all the money we asked for’ is the right way to do it.”
Fifty percent of all residents in Davidson County voted early in the last few elections. In past years, there have been around ten early voting sites.
Dean remains hopeful the voting commission will be able to reconfigure their budget.
They'll meet again next Thursday. The city council is expected to approve a final operating budget on June 16.
