Election officials say they’re closing in on an all-time high of 400,000 voter registrations in Davidson County — a surge comes just ahead of the Oct. 11 deadline to get signed up for the November general election.
The Davidson County Election Commission said this week that they’ve added about 25,000 voters since the 2012 election. A lot of that is population growth, but some is new voters, drawn to register by the intense race between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
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See the numbers for registered voters in Davidson County, which last peaked in 2008.
Marilynn Porritt falls into both categories. The 24-year-old educational consultant is new to town, and she’s preparing to cast a ballot for the first time ever.
“I was actually at work yesterday, and we were talking about making sure everybody was registered to vote,” she says. “It’s really easy to look up your name online to see if you’re registered, and I realized that I wasn’t, and so I just came here today to make sure I was registered.”
It took Porritt all of about two minutes to get signed up. She dropped into the Election Commission’s satellite office on Second Avenue around 9 a.m. after being advised that it would probably be the fastest way to finish her registration.
Election administrator Jeff Roberts says officials try to keep the process quick and simple. And they’re seeing steady traffic — both in person and through the mail.
“We think there will be a lot of interest in this election,” he says, “and it’s a reason to think about early voting.”
The deadline to register for this fall’s general election is Tuesday. Registrations by mail must be postmarked by midnight that day.
Early voting in Davidson County starts Oct. 19 in 12 locations.
‘Procrastination Saturday’
For the final push, election officials are also planning what they’ve dubbed “Procrastination Saturday.”
Both the Davison County Election Commission’s office on Second Avenue and its main location on Murfreesboro Road will be open this Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. — special hours meant to accommodate last-minute applications.
The commission also is partnering with the Nashville Public Library to collect registrations at all branches.
“They’re ready to accept the public to come in and want to register to vote,” says Roberts. “They’re going to collect all of those registrations and make them available for us on Monday.”
No identification or proof of address is needed when they sign up to vote, though both will be checked when they go to the polls.
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