Election Day: Polls open at 9 a.m. in Anderson, 8 a.m. in Roane
Tuesday is Election Day and area voters will be going to their normal voting sites to cast their votes in state and federal elections, as well as city elections throughout Anderson and Roane counties.
In Anderson County, the polls will be open 9 a.m.-8 p.m. In Roane County, residents can vote 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Because of print deadlines, the local results will be published in the Thursday print edition of The Oak Ridger. However, election results will be published sooner online at oakridger.com.
Early voting results
Already 11,732 of Anderson County's estimated 50,000 voters had voted early as of last Thursday, when the early voting period ended. According to information provided by Mark Stephens, Anderson County Election Commission administrator, a total of 11,073 residents cast votes on the voting machines at one of the the three early voting locations - Oak Ridge, Clinton and Andersonville/Norris - by the end of Thursday.
Stephens said the number of votes was "suprisingly a very high turnout for this type of election."
The most votes - 5,416 - were cast early at the Midtown Community Center in Oak Ridge, followed by 3,389 at the Fair Association building in Clinton, and 2,268 at the government offices at Anderson's Crossing shopping center in the Norris/Andersonville area. The remaining votes in the 11,732 total were cast by mail (absentee) and at nursing homes.
What you'll be voting for
In Oak Ridge, voters will select three Oak Ridge Board of Education members and four Oak Ridge City Council members. They also will be voting 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.
In Anderson County, city elections are also being held in Oliver Springs, Clinton, Rocky Top (Lake City) and Norris. In Roane County, city elections will be held in KIngston and Rockwood in Roane County.
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?"
Voters can cast their vote for state and federal House of Representatives races, Tennessee Senate races, and the governor's race. 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.
Sample ballots can be found at acelect.com and roaneelections.com.
News Editor Donna Smith covers Oak Ridge area news for The Oak Ridger. She can be contacted at dsmith@oakridger.com. Follow her on Twitter @ridgernewsed.
This article originally appeared on Oakridger: Election Day: Polls open at 9 a.m. in Anderson, 8 a.m. in Roane
