KYLE MURPHYStaff Writer

Residents who are planning to go to the polls to vote early have until Halloween this Thursday to cast their ballot.

According to Administrator of Elections Andy Farrar, Coffee County had over 14,00 early voters by Monday, Oct. 28, at noon.

“Turnout for this election has been awesome,” Farrar said. “We are ahead of the 2020 November Election in turnout. The November 2020 Election was the largest Election Tennessee and Coffee County has ever had.”

Given that the final day of early voting takes place on Halloween, Farrar said voters and children are welcomed to cast their vote in costume, as long as they take their face masks off as poll workers will need to confirm their identity by photo identification they provide and the signature of the voters. However, Farrar added that dressing up as a candidate, wearing a slogan of a candidate on the ballot or wearing anything political is against Tennessee State law and is not permitted in the early voting locations or within 100 feet of the location.

The first day of early voting for the 2024 presidential election saw 1,787 county residents cast their ballots. The turnout for the first day of early voting was a bit down in comparison to the 2020 presidential election, which saw 2,061 county residents cast their ballots, which is down 13%. However, the high turnout of voters continued as the second and third day of early voting saw 1,502 and 1,553 county residents, respectively, cast their ballots.

As of Monday, Oct. 28, 14,164 out of 38,146 registered voters made time to go to the polls to cast their early vote in the 2024 presidential election, or about 33.93% of registered voters. Out of the 14,164 total number of voters, Coffee County rural residents continue to have the highest turnout with 6,954 voters, followed by Tullahoma city residents with 4,563 voters and Manchester city residents made up the rest with 2,647 voters. Statewide, according to statistics shared by Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett the number of over voter turnout has been close to 2020 number of voter turnout.

This Thursday, Oct. 31, will be residents who plan to vote early for the November election last chance to do so. For Tullahoma residents, they will go to C.D. Stamps Community Center, located at 810 S. Jackson St., to cast their ballot, while Manchester residents will go to the Coffee County Administrative Plaza, located at 1329 McArthur St, Suite 6.

For C.D. Stamps the hours for voting are 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Saturday is from 9 a.m. to noon. For the Plaza hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday and 8:30 a.m. to noon on Saturday.

In Franklin County early balloting is 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. until noon on Saturdays with the exception of Oct. 31 which will see voting go on until 5:30 p.m. Early voting in Franklin County will be at the Franklin County Election Commission at 839 Dinah Shore Blvd. in Winchester. Tullahoma voters who live in Franklin County vote early in Franklin County not at C.D. Stamps.

Poll officials ask voters to bring a photo identification, which includes a Tennessee driver license with a photo, a United States passport, a photo ID issued by the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security, Photo ID issued by the federal of Tennessee state government, a United States Military photo ID or a Tennessee handgun carry permit with your photo. It is also a good idea for voters to have their voter registration card with them when they arrive at the polls.

For voters who do not vote during early voting, they will vote on Election Day Tuesday, Nov. 5 at their assigned precincts, based on their residential address. Hours for all precincts will be 8 a.m. – 7 p.m. Voters who have an address change will be asked to fill out a failsafe form to allow them to vote in the correct precinct.

For additional information, you may contact the Coffee County Election Office at (931) 723-5103. 

What’s on the ballot?

The ballot will consist primarily of federal and state elections. For the seat of the President of the United States, the top two party candidates to choose from will be Republican candidate and former president Donald J. Trump with his running mate J.D. Vance and Democratic candidate and sitting Vice President Kamala Harris with her running mate Tim Walz. The other candidates that will be on the ballot for U.S. President and Vice President include Jay J. Bowman and De D. Bowman, Claudia De la Cruz and Karina Garcia, Rachele Fruit and Dennis Richter, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Nicole Shanahan and Jill Stein and Samson LeBeau Kpadenou.

For the seat of U.S. Senate, Republican candidate and incumbent Marsha Blackburn will face off against Democratic candidate and sitting State Rep. Gloria Johnson, as well as independent candidates Tharon Chandler, Pamela Jeanine “P.” Moses and Hastina Robinson. As for U.S. House of Representatives for District 4, Republican candidate and incumbent Scott DesJarlais faces Democratic candidate Victoria Isabel Broderick, and independent candidates Earnest Ensley and Keith Nolan.

For the state elections, the seats for State Senate, District 16, and House of Representatives, District 47, will be up for grabs. For the State Senate, Republican candidate and incumbent Janice Bowling faces off with Democratic candidate Wayne Steel and independent candidate Scott Bean. For State of House of Representatives, Republican candidate and incumbent Rush Bricken will meet Democratic candidate Veronica Owens on the ballot.

As for the local level, seats for the Coffee County Commission, Coffee County School Board and Constable will be on the ballot. For the Coffee County Commission seat for District 2, Republican candidate Benton D. Brown will face off against Democratic candidate Zak Mohyuddin. For the Coffee County Commission seat for District 6, Republican candidate Sammy Anderson III faces off against Democratic candidate Jerry L. Brown.

For the Coffee County School Board Seat 2-Districts 2, 6, 7, Republican candidate Chris M. Koon will meet independent candidate Janet McCullough Thornton. There is no qualified candidate listed for Constable Seat 1-Districts 1, 3, 4.