People vote at the Metro Nashville Office Building in Nashville, Tenn. on Oct. 16, 2024. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)
More than 200,000 Tennesseans cast ballots on the first day of early voting for the second consecutive presidential election.
Wednesday’s totals surpass 2016 but not 2020.
The Tennessee Secretary of State Office reported that 216,446 people voted in person or by absentee ballot on Wednesday, Oct. 16, the first day of in-person voting in the 2024 presidential election in the state.
In 2020, 264,671 people voted on the first day of early voting, while 143,141 did so in 2016.
Early voting in Tennessee runs through Oct. 31. Election Day is on Nov. 5.
Early and absentee voting remains popular in Tennessee, with nearly two-thirds of the nearly 3 million votes cast in 2020 coming before Election Day.
Despite this, Tennessee consistently ranks among the lowest for voter turnout, coming in last during the 2022 midterm elections, according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Election Performance Index.
In addition to the U.S. presidential race, Tennesseans will vote in a U.S. Senate race and nine congressional races this year. All 99 state House seats are on the ballot — 66 of which are contested — along with 16 state Senate races, 13 of which are contested.
Find the Lookout’s election coverage and voter guide here.