Workers gear up for early voting

By Joel Davis
of The Daily Times Staff

Early voting for the Feb. 5 presidential preference and local primaries begins Wednesday.
As the deadline looms, life at the Blount County Election Commission office is “busy,” said Administrator of Elections Libby Breeding. Volunteers were training Monday on the operation of the electronic voting machines.
There is a new early voting satellite location at the Everett Recreation Center, 318 S. Everett High Road. The early voting hours at the Everett location will be from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. The courthouse hours will be 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays. Early voting will be held through Jan. 31.
To make life easier for everyone involved, Breeding has a few tips for voters.
“We want to make sure they bring either their voter registration card or some kind of identification with them and have it ready when they come in,” she said. “Parking is a problem sometimes here at the courthouse, so they can use the Maryville First Baptist Church parking lot. We’re also supposed to have a row of parking (here at the courthouse), but I don’t know if the signs will be installed by (Wednesday).
The only contested local race in the Aug. 7 county general election will be for the Division II seat vacated by Circuit Court Judge D. Kelly Thomas Jr. when he was appointed to the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals in November 2006. Current Circuit Court Judge Mike Meares, a Democrat appointed to serve in the interim by Gov. Phil Bredesen in June 2007, and General Sessions Court Judge David Duggan, a Republican, have both qualified to run.
Voters will choose between Duggan and Meares during the state primary and county general election on Aug. 7. In February, county voters can vote in the primary election for property assessor and the Division II Circuit Court judge. Unless there is a write-in candidate, Property Assessor Mike Morton will run for re-election unopposed. Also on the ballot will be Carl Koella III, who is seeking re-election to his Rockford City Commission slot.
During the state general election, Blount County voters will choose a state senator and fill the county’s two slots in the state House of Representatives.
So far, only Sen. Raymond Finney, R-Maryville, has announced his intention to run for re-election. Reps. Joe McCord, R-Maryville, and Doug Overbey, R-Maryville, have not made announcements, yet. The deadline to file to run for the state offices is April 3.
The U.S. presidential election and state general election will be Nov. 4.
A mail-in voter registration application can be found at: www.blounttn.org/election/Mail_In_Application_for_Voter_Registration.pdf