A look at the numbers on the first day of early voting in Nashville

According to the list I received from the Davidson County Election Commission, 469 people voted on Friday. It looks as if there may be one duplicate on the list, so maybe it was 468. I don't have the statistics from the first day four years ago, but the number was higher than I expected.

Republican Surge?: Judging from the campaign signs posted at the Election Commission, a crowded 5th district Republican congressional primary and the three-man horse race for the Republican nomination for governor must account for the numbers. About 45% of those voting on the first day pulled a Republican primary ballot. It should be noted that Friday's Jackson Day celebration may have kept many Democrats from voting after work.

GLBT Factor: Just over 2% of those voting on Friday are part of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community. (The number could be higher. I don't know every GLBT person in Nashville, folks!) After voting (or before voting for those who were heading to the Election Commission on Saturday), the TEP Nashville Committee held our Vote + Happy Hour event at 3rd and Lindsley. You can find some of the pictures here.

Rutherford County Contrast: Despite being higher than I expected, the Nashville numbers are still low. Rutherford County provides a contrast where 1001 people voted on the first day, according to the Daily News Journal. But they had six locations and Davidson County only had one. 698 voted in the Republican primary in the Rutherford County with only 286 in the Democratic. Again, I think we can attribute those numbers to a crowded Republican field in the 6th district congressional race as well as the governor's race.

Voting on Saturday: Maybe the second day totals will be stronger in Nashville, despite the rather limited Saturday hours. One indication was the large crowd of volunteers for Jeff Yarbro's district 21 State Senate campaign who were gathered at the Election Commission Saturday morning to vote and then canvass neighborhoods. Stay tuned for more updates as the numbers come in over the next few days.