KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — After the first few days of early voting in Knox County, election officials said they had collected tens of thousands of ballots.
According to the Knox County Election Commission, voters cast 42,217 ballots during the early voting period so far. The commission said another 4,072 votes were cast as absentee ballots.
On the first day of early voting, election officials said around 13,000 votes were cast over a 12-hour period. That number is far larger than the start of early voting in 2020 when around 8,000 ballots were cast in an eight-hour window.
The commission said as of Monday, voters will have 10 more days to cast their ballots during the early voting period in Knox County, not counting two Sundays when polls will be closed.
Voters can expect long lines if they decide to cast ballots early. Lines are expected to be even longer on Election Day. So far, the Downtown West location has had the most turnout with 7,202 votes. It was followed by the Farragut location and the Knoxville Expo Center location.
The early voting period ends on Oct. 31, before Election Day on Nov. 5. While voters will decide on who they want to see as president of the United States, Knoxville voters will also decide on whether to amend the city charter and change the city's voting style. There are also races for seats in the Tennessee legislature and the U.S. Congress.
