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Early voting is underway in Carter County and across the state of Tennessee.
The is the first of three elections this year in Tennessee. Winners in the May primary will be on the ballot again in August, when a primary will be held for statewide offices for the November election.
This is an extremely important election as several local offices are on the ballot. Voters will decide who will fill these offices for the next four years.
Several men and women are running for various county offices in the May primary, including county mayor, trustee, sheriff, superintendent of roads, commissioners, register of deeds, circuit court clerk, school board member, and constables, just to name some of the offices on the ballot. Only registered voters may cast a ballot.
The May 3 Election Day will be here before you know it but more and more people have opted to cast a ballot during the early voting period and why shouldn’t they? it is convenient, lines are not long, and you can do it at various times through the day during the two weeks that have been set aside for early voting.
No one should vote for someone simply because they think the candidate is a nice person, they attend church together, are in the same civic club, are relatives or part of a certain social circle. You should vote for the person you think will do the best job.
Campaigns should be considered job interviews.
Elections should be more about principles than politics.
The vote is our ultimate recourse.
You may have concerns regarding how county government is doing the people’s business. You may have concerns about government transparency, government spending, county taxes, business regulations or government services. Who do you support?
Do you know the positions of the candidate(s) you support on these and other relevant issues facing our community?
The voting booth is our opportunity to influence the future of our county.
We elect mayors, commissioners, and school boards to make important decisions that will affect our county’s future.
We hope turn-out is robust this go-round. It is disheartening that only a small portion of voters tend to make it to the polls.
Voting is a right and a privilege.
Be informed. Make wise decisions based on ideologies, past performance, platforms and matters of principle, rather than on personality, popularity or party alone.
Then, go vote.
The election is scheduled for May 3. Early voting runs 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 9 a.m. to 12 noon Saturday through April 28 at the Carter County Election Commission Office, 116 Holston Ave.