Early voting sluggish so far

Early voting has gotten off to a sluggish start as election officials suspect some early voting regulars are waiting to see how primaries in South Carolina and Florida turn out before voting for president.

‘I really think a lot of people are waiting to see what happens in the earlier primaries and how that affects some of the candidacies before they vote early,’ said election administrator Donna Yates, pointing out results from the South Carolina and Florida primaries could spell new life ‘ or doom ‘ for some presidential hopefuls.

Fred Thompson is a prime example. The former U.S. Senator from Tennessee has fared poorly thus far, getting just 1 percent of the vote in New Hampshire, for example.

In a Southern Standard Internet poll, Thompson is leading all Republican candidates with 42.7 percent of the vote.

During the first day of early voting Wednesday, 126 people voted in the Republican and Democratic primaries. Early voting will be held until Jan. 31 at the early voting room downstairs at the county government building on Locust Street.

Balloting will be conducted from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. until noon on Saturdays, except for this coming Monday when no voting will be held due to Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The votes from early voting will be combined with the ballots cast Feb. 5 when Tennessee joins 23 other states in Super Tuesday, the largest single-day primary event ever held, a day which will determine 40 percent of the overall primary delegates.

Yates noted some voters may be waiting on their early vote because, in the past, they had voted early for a candidate, who, by the time the primary was held, had already dropped out of the race.

Early voters are urged to bring a photo ID and their voter’s card.