Beginning Wednesday, Anderson County residents can vote for people to lead their cities, as well as elected officials to represent them in the state and federal government.

Early voting for the Nov. 8 election begins Wednesday and continues through Nov. 3 at three early voting locations.

Registered Anderson County voters - no matter where they live - can vote early at one of the following locations: in Oak Ridge at the Midtown Community Center (Wildcat Den) at 102 Robertsville Road; the Anderson County Fair Association building, 218 Nave St., Clinton; and Anderson Crossing Shopping Center, 3310 Andersonville Highway, Andersonville. Times for early voting are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to noon Saturday.

Each city in Anderson County - Oak Ridge, Clinton, Oliver Springs, Rocky Top and Norris - is having a city election. State races are also on the ballots, including the governor, state representatives and senators, as well as races for federal offices. Anderson County, Oak Ridge and the state have several referendum questions on the ballots.

Get information

Several forums are scheduled this week for people to find out more about the candidates or the county-wide question on whether Anderson County should adopt a charter form of government.

All Anderson County voters will be asked to vote "for" or "against" in a charter referendum asking the question, "Shall Anderson County government be changed to a charter form of government?" You can read the proposed charter for Anderson County by clicking the link on the right of the county government's website, andersoncountytn.gov.

Informational meetings on what it means to change the county from a constitutional form of government to a charter one will be at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Oak Ridge Civic Center Social Room and Thursday at Anderson County High School in Clinton.

The League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge will sponsor a candidate forum at 7 p.m. Thursday at Roane State Community College, City Room A-111 in the Coffey/McNally Building, 701 Briarcliff Ave., Oak Ridge. Candidates running for Oak Ridge City Council and Oak Ridge Board of Education have been invited to participate. William “Bear” Stephenson has been invited to moderate.

Oak Ridge voters will be electing four members to City Council. Seeking re-election are Warren Gooch and Ellen Smith. L.C. "Charlie" Hensley is seeking a seat on Council, as is Sean Gleason and Carmen DeLong. Hensley previously served on City Council. Current Council members Rick Chinn and Kelly Callison have chosen not to seek re-election.

Oak Ridge voters can cast three votes for the city Board of Education. Seeking re-election are Laura McLean, Benjamin J. Stephens and Erin S. Well. Heather G. Hartmann is also seeking one of the three seats.

Charter amendments in Oak Ridge

City voters also will be asked to vote "for" or "against" two charter amendments.

The first charter amendment asks whether the voter is for or against allowing the city to publish a summary of Oak Ridge City Council meetings on the city's website and removing the requirement that such information be published in the official city newspaper, which is The Oak Ridger.

The second amendment proposes that the definition of the official city newspaper in the Oak Ridge City Charter be expanded to allow the use of digital media for publication of official notices. The city news release explaining the proposed change and the way the current charter reads is below:

Article III, Section 12, Official city newspaper:

• Proposed: “The council by resolution shall designate an official city newspaper as a vehicle for required publication of city notices to be a newspaper of general circulation, a city of Oak Ridge website, or an online publication. The official notices and publications to be published in the official city newspaper shall also be published on the city’s website.”

• Current: “The council by resolution shall designate a newspaper of general circulation in the city as the official city newspaper. The official notices and publications to be published in the official city newspaper shall also be published on the city’s website.”

Tennessee Senate and House races

In the state election, state Sen. Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, who has been serving as lieutenant governor, is running unopposed in District 5. However, state Rep. John Ragan, also a Republican from Oak Ridge, is challenged by Oak Ridge resident Jim Dodson, who serves on City Council and teaches art in the Oak Ridge Schools, for District 33. Dodson is the Democratic candidate.

In District 4 for the Tennessee House of Representatives, which includes a small portion of Anderson County voters, Republican Ed Butler of Rickman is running against state Rep. John Mark Windle of Livingston, an Independent.

Candidates for the Tennessee House District 32 covering part of Roane and Loudon counties are Republican Monty Fritts and Democrat Jan Hahn.

Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, is seeking his second four-year term in office. He's opposed by the Democratic Party nominee Jason Brantley Martin, and Independent candidates John Gentry, Basil Marceaux, Charles Van Morgan, Alfred O'Neill, Deborah Rouse, Michael E. Scantland and Rick Tyler.

Candidates for the Third District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives are incumbent Chuck Fleischmann, a Republican, Democrat Meg Gorman and Independent candidates Thomas M. Rumba and Rick Tyler.

Constitutional amendments

Voters across the state can vote on several proposed constitutional amendments, which in summary, are on a "right-to-work" law, the line of succession if something happens to impact the governor's ability to serve, a slavery ban and repealing a ban on clergy lawmakers.

Donna Smith, The Oak Ridger's news editor, can be contacted by email at dsmith@oakridger.com. Follow her on Twitter @ridgernewsed.

This article originally appeared on Oakridger: Early voting begins Wednesday