KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — The Democratic presidential primary had a pronounced impact on early voting this month in Knox County, figures show.
According to the Knox County Election Commission, 17,766 declared Republicans cast ballots compared with 17,378 declared Democrats. Only a few hundred votes divide the two, a rare phenomenon in recent county voting history.
Chris Davis, assistant commission administrator, speculated interest in the Democratic candidates is helping to drive the turnout, along with some likely crossover by traditional Republicans to the Democratic ballot.
Total early and absentee turnout was 35,153 this voting period. Davis said it's possible another 35,000 to 40,000 people may show up at the polls on Tuesday, March 3.
The primary ballot essentially forces the local voter to choose: Take part in the local elections, which are dominated by GOP candidates, or take part in the presidential primary, which features incumbent Donald Trump and a wide field of Democratic wannabes.
There are several significant local offices in play but they've only got Republican competitors, such as Knox County Criminal Court judge, law director and Knox County district public defender.
Anecdotally, Davis said, it appears more younger voters are showing an interest in this primary.
For example, there's been an obvious increase among students who live out of state seeking to cast a ballot back home in Knox County. A total of 1,686 absentee ballots were cast ahead of the Tuesday election.
In Tennessee, the primary is open, so you can vote for whichever ballot you choose.
Knox County has a total of about 266,000 registered voters, according to Davis.
Figures from the 2016, 2012 and 2008 county primaries show just how much the 2020 early vote stands out.
In 2016, 10,361 declared Democrats voted compared with 26,445 GOP voters, election figures show. The office of president was wide open, with Trump easily taking the county vote and Hillary Clinton beating Bernie Sanders in the Democratic race.
In 2012, Barack Obama was the incumbent. Democratic voters didn't have as much incentive to turn out because their candidate was unopposed.
Only 1,148 declared Democrats voted compared with 15,384 early and absentee GOP voters, election figures show. Rick Santorum was the leading vote-getter in the 2012 primary.
In 2008, the presidential primary field was wide open.
Figures show 21,825 declared Republicans voted in the county compared with 15,509 declared Democrats, election figures show. Hillary Clinton got the most votes among Democrats; John McCain got the most votes among Republicans.