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October 30, 2008

Early, total voters on way to eclipsing the previous marks

Editor's note: Complete list of polling places will be published in Sunday’s Daily Progress.



By Kelly Young

kyoung@jacksonvilleprogress.com

Galvanized by a fiercely contested presidential race, Cherokee County voters are hitting the polls in force. With two full days left before early voting closes, voter turnout is already close to setting the county’s early voting record. And if early voting is any indicator — which it typically is — 2008 will also likely shatter the county’s total voting record.

“Through yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon at 5 p.m. we had had 6,051 people vote early. I went back several years in the books, and the highest early voter turnout we’ve had was 6,993 people in November of 2004,” said County Clerk Laverne Lusk. “Normally the last two days of early voting are very heavy, so we will probably set the early voting record this year.”

Lusk said the county started early voting with a record, as the 886 people who voted locally Oct. 20 set a new bar for Cherokee County early voters in a single day. So far, 4,041 people have voted early at the Jacksonville Senior Center, 1,361 have voted at the Cherokee County Courthouse in Rusk and 649 have cast their ballot at the A. Frank Smith United Methodist Church in Alto.

The county clerk’s office has also already collected more than 500 mail-in ballots submitted by absentee voters and members of the military, which will be verified and eventually added to the early voting total.

A total of 15,945 Cherokee County residents voted during the last presidential election, which Lusk believes is the county record for total voters in an election. That figure is expected to fall on Election Day.

Early voters generally make up a little less than half of the total number of voters, meaning Tuesday night could be a very busy one for Lusk and her staff.

“You generally have more people voting when a presidential election is on the ballot, and judging by the strong turnout so far, I think election day is going to be very busy,” she said. “Usually, if you have a good turnout in early voting, you can expect to have a strong showing on Election Day as well. There seems to be a lot more interest in the elections this year.”

There are about 28,000 registered voters in Cherokee County, a number which has increased greatly in recent months due to the McCain/Obama presidential race, according to election officials.

Since the primaries in March, three of the county’s Election Day polling places have changed. The polling place for Voting Box 13 was previously at the Maydelle fire station but is now at the First Baptist Church of Maydelle. Box 26, which is the box for East Alto, was at the Precinct 2 county barn but will now be located at Calvary Tabernacle United Pentecostal Church. The location for Box 45 has also changed, from New Summerfield City Hall to the New Summerfield First Baptist Church. All other polling places remain unchanged. A complete list will be published in the Sunday Daily Progress.

If you are unsure what voting precinct you live in, contact the county clerk’s office with your name and address, and they will be able to tell you where to vote.

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