KYLE MURPHY Staff Writer

Coffee County residents have been making their voice heard at the polls as 14% of the 39,056 registered voters have cast their votes during the early voting period. Early voting for the Nov. 3 general election ends on Thursday, Oct. 29.

According to data shared by Andy Farrar, Administrator of Elections for Coffee County, on Saturday, Oct. 24, 5,475 registered voters, or 14.02%, had voted. All but one precinct saw over 10% of its registered voters come out and cast their ballots. Precinct 8.2 (Grace Baptist Church) had the highest turnout so far with 19.16%, followed by Precinct 5.2 (Blanton Chapel Community Center) with 17.13%. The precinct with the third highest turnout was Precinct 3.1 (Coffee County Rescue Squad) with 17.08%.

What’s on the ballot?

For the November ballot, the main race is for the seat of Tennessee Governor, as sitting Gov. Bill Lee has reached his term limits. The choice for the next governor is the following candidates: U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R), Jerri Green (D), Misam Abidi (I), Dean Brewer (I), Ray Brown (I), David Hatley (I), Wendell Jackson (I), Charles Van Morgan (I), Eddie Lee Murphy (I), Lauren Pinkston (I), Victor L. Scoggin (I), Dave Seeman (I), Karl Knox Smithson (I), L. Webb Taylor (I) and Robert C. Vick (I).

The other state and federal election races are for U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives District 4 and State House of Representatives District 47.

For the U.S. Senate race, incumbent Bill Hagerty (R) will meet the following candidates: Marquita Bradshaw (D), Tharon Chandler (I), Andrew Gerena (I), Jeremy Dean Hearn (I), Robert Jones (I), James William Macon III (I), Yoshi D. Matthews (I), David Sutman, Jr. (I), and Catherine Barcel “Barcy” Whitson (I). As for the race for U.S. House of Representatives District 4 race, incumbent Scott DesJarlais (R) will meet candidates Victoria Broderick (D), Jacob Kristopher Anders (I) and Clay Faircloth (I).

For the State House of Representatives District 47 race, incumbent Rush Bricken (R) will face off with Mike Stein (D) for the seat. As for the county general election, while the Constable Seat 1 – Districts 1, 3, 4 and Constable Seat 2 – Districts 2, 6, 7 are on the ballot, no candidates qualified.

The final items on the ballot will be three constitutional amendments to the state constitution that focus on denial of bond in serious cases, a ban on state property taxes and on victims’ rights. For more information on these amendments, either visit GoVoteTN.gov or read our story about the amendments at www.tullahomanews.com.

The early voting locations for Coffee County residents are the C.D. Stamps Community Center at 810 South Jackson St. in Tullahoma and the Coffee County Administrative Plaza at 1329 McArthur St., Suite 6, in Manchester. The hours for early voting for C.D. Stamps Community Center will be from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday. The hours for early voting for Coffee County Administrative Plaza will be from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8:30 a.m. to noon on Saturday. As for Election Day in Coffee County, all poll locations will be open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.

For more information, visit the Coffee County Election Commission’s website at www.coffeecountytn.gov/158/Election-Commission.

Election officials note that constitutional amendment questions often contain language that may require additional time to review and consider. Voters who familiarize themselves with the amendments beforehand can spend more time making informed decisions and less time reading lengthy ballot language in the voting booth.

Before visiting the polls, voters are encouraged to:

•     Verify their voter registration status.

•     Review a sample ballot.

•     Read the proposed constitutional amendments.

•     Those voting early or on Election Day must present a current or expired photo ID issued by the federal or Tennessee state government when you vote in person. College student IDs, non-U.S. Citizen ID’s and IDs issued by local governments or other states are not accepted. To learn more about exemptions and how to get a free photo ID, along with more information about early voting, visit your trusted source for election information, GoVoteTN.gov.