Early voting tops 81,000 ahead of Thursday election day
Social distancing stickers were placed throughout Second Baptist Church to help keep the threat of coronavirus at bay July 23, 2020. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)
More than 81,000 Shelby County voters cast their ballots during the 14-day early voting period in advance of election day this Thursday, Aug. 6.
A total of 81,313 early and absentee votes were cast through Saturday’s last day of early balloting. That number could increase as additional absentee ballots come in up until election day.
Of the total received and counted as of Saturday’s deadline, 54,649 voted in the Democratic state and federal primaries and 25,894 voted in the Republican primaries. The remaining 770 voted in the county general elections only, according to the numbers provided by the Shelby County Election Commission.
Completed absentee ballots mailed in during the early voting period totaled 12,935 with most cast in the Democratic primaries. The absentee ballots accounted for about 16% of the turnout total.
Mail-in ballots can still be delivered to the Election Commission by mail or a delivery service such as FedEx up until the polls close Thursday at 7 p.m.
By the July 30 deadline to apply for an absentee ballots, a total of 19,440 Shelby County voters had been applied for and had been mailed to voters, according to the election commission. So between the end of early voting and election day there are about 7,000 ballots still with voters.
By Election Commission figures released Sunday afternoon, the top five early voting sites by turnout were:
- 5,141 at Anointed Temple of Praise, 3939 Riverdale Road, in Southeast Memphis.
- 4,699 at Harmony Church, 6740 St. Elmo Road, in Bartlett.
- 4,500 at AgriCenter, 7777 Walnut Grove Road, in Cordova.
- 3,794 at Abundant Grace Fellowship Church, 1574 E. Shelby Drive, in Whitehaven.
- 3,759 at Collierville Church of Christ, 575 Shelton Drive.
Those who vote early can cast their ballots at any of the 26 locations regardless of where they live in Shelby County. Past early voting patterns show most early voters select locations close to where they live.
Of the early voters, the top five precincts from which they came were:
- 971 at LAK-01, which votes election day at First Baptist Church-Lakeland, 4500 Canada Road.
- 956 at ARL-01, which votes election day at Arlington United Methodist Church, 6145 Quintard St.
- 892 at BAR-08, which votes election day at Christ Church, 5955 Yale Road.
- 773 at BAR-04, which votes election day at Singleton Community Center, 7266 3rd Road.
- 714 at 77-01, which votes election day at Riverside Baptist Church, 3560 S. 3rd St., and was also an early voting site.
Among absentee voters, the top five precincts from which they came were:
- 251 from 80-02, which votes election day at Opera Memphis, 6745 Wolf River Parkway.
- 217 from GER-05, which votes election day at River Oaks Reformed Presbyterian Church, 1665 S. Germantown Road.
- 182 from 16-01, which votes election day at Central Christian Church, 531 S. McLean Boulevard.
- 181 from GER-02, which votes election day at Germantown Presbyterian Church, 2363 S. Germantown Road.
- 163 from 44-05, which votes election day at Lester Community Center, 317 Tillman St.
Comparisons are difficult because, unlike recent past elections for this particular election cycle, all 26 early voting sites were open this time for the entire 14-day early voting period.
With that in mind, the early voter turnout for the same election cycle in 2016 was 43,912 including 369 absentee ballots.
That was without all of the sites open the entire 14-day period.
In the early voting period in advance of the Nov. 8, 2016, presidential general election, the most popular election cycle in Shelby County politics by voter turnout, the early voter turnout was 242,309, including 2,970 absentee ballots. That was with 21 early voting sites open the entire period.
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2020 Election early voter turnout absentee votingBill Dries on demand
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Bill Dries
Bill Dries covers city and county government and politics. He is a native Memphian and has been a reporter for more than 40 years.
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