Early voting alters campaign tactics
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During the election in August, 37 percent of the people who voted took advantage of the early voting option during the two-week period leading up to the election. Given the numbers for early voting in this election, it appears the number may be even higher.
“We’re seeing more and more people taking advantage of the convenience of early voting,” said Election Administrator Donna Yates. “I fully expect, either in this election or in the next election we have here, to see a full half of those who vote, voting early. There’ll come a day, in the not too distant future, where well over half the voters vote early.”
With people flocking to the polls early, candidates say they must implement new strategies to reach those voters who go to the polls as early as three weeks before the main election.
“You basically have to start campaigning a month earlier,” said County Executive Kenneth Rogers, who defeated incumbent Carol Hamblen during the August election. “Campaigning is really over once early voting starts because you start running into a lot of people who say they’ve already voted.”
Rogers said candidates must have their support maximized before early voting starts, otherwise it is too late.
“It changes the whole outlook because you’ve got to be peaked before early voting starts and hold that peak throughout the two-week period,” Rogers said. “You just have to start a little earlier.”
While changing strategy, Rogers said he really likes early voting because of its convenience.
“I love it,” Rogers said. “It’s one of the better things they’ve come up with in a long time.”
For incumbent 47th District state Rep. Butch Lewis, who is trying to fend off a challenge from Republican hopeful Judd Matheny, heavy early voting means getting an early start on the campaign trail.
“You’ve got to get your message out earlier and schedule your campaign ads earlier,” Lewis said. “There’s a lot of interest in the races this year, so we’re looking for a pretty heavy voter turnout in both Warren and Coffee counties.”
Aside from starting earlier, Lewis said early voting has not really caused a hardship.
“I think you still have the same amount of time to reach the voters,” Lewis said. “You just have to start a little earlier.”
For Republican U.S. Senate candidate Lamar Alexander, who is competing against Bob Clement, the campaign trail has been even shorter this year since Fred Thompson only recently announced he would not seek re-election.
“There’s a much smaller window of opportunity,” said Alexander’s wife, Honey Alexander, who was recently in town on a campaign stop. “It was so quick this time, it was like ready, set, go, and we barely had time to get out of the ready stage. This has been a real short turnaround.”
Alexander said the base her husband has from earlier campaigns for governor and president has helped them set up their campaign more quickly.
In the Clement camp, which does not have the luxury of former runs for president, setting up the campaign has been a little harder. However, during his recent visit to town, Clement said the voters are now being reached as evident by his improvement in the polls where Alexander had formerly had a solid lead.
“They know who we are now,” Clement told supports in his recent stop.
Early voting continues through Thursday behind the Warren County Administrative Offices on Locust Street. Voting hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.