Voters Turn Out to Cast Super Tuesday Ballots

It’s been a fairly smooth day at the polls so far, as Tennessee voters make their choice in the Republican and Democratic primaries.

State election coordinator Brook Thompson says there haven’t been complaints of long lines, which was a worry considering the large number of Republicans running for seats as convention delegates. Turnout seemed somewhat high during the first part of the day, and a record 320-thousand Tennesseans voted early, but Thompson is cautious about predicting the final numbers.

“There’s some pretty severe weather forecast for parts of the state later this afternoon, and we typically have a pretty good bit of our turnout as people come home from work, so we’ll have to see how that plays into it, but by and large, this is gonna be a good turnout for a presidential primary.”

Despite a light drizzle, a steady stream of voters came out this morning to West Cheatham Elementary School including Betsy Bumpus:

“I voted for Huckabee. His faith…and I don’t, I know it’s probably end up to be McCain. In a lot of ways a vote for Huckabee is a vote for McCain, but maybe McCain will pay attention if Huckabee gets a lot of votes. I feel like we finally have a competition, it’s not already sewn up. Even though I’m a Republican and I will vote Republican, it’s exciting to see the Democrats have a woman and their first black, African-American. It’s just an exciting election, yeah.”

The day has not been without its problems. One Nashville precinct had to move due to sewer problems-voters who usually cast their ballot at the Donelson Public Library are instead being directed to the nearby Donelson Presybterian Church. And this morning, computer crashes temporarily shut down voting machines at two Knoxville polling places.