DeSoto County submitted more absentee ballots than anywhere else in Mississippi before the polls opened for the Nov. 5 general election. 

Nearly 200,000 ballots have been collected statewide since absentee voting began in September, according to the most recent data from the Mississippi Secretary of State.

And exactly 18,137 of those ballots were successfully submitted from voters in DeSoto County.

What to watch for in the presidential general election returns

The most populated county in Mississippi, Hinds County, submitted 12,360 ballots that were ultimately accepted by the state.

There were lots of cars around 7:15 a.m. Tuesday at the Glenview Community Center, where people were streaming in after the night shift and before the day shift.

At Glenview, 1141 S. Barksdale St., LaVergie Singleterry voted for the City of Memphis’ referendum to ban assault rifles.

She also voted to allow the Memphis City Council to set their salaries.

State Rep. G.A. Hardaway was at Glenview greeting voters before 7:15 a.m.

Voters trickled in and out of Balmoral Presbyterian Church when polls opened early Tuesday morning. There was no line at the church, at 6413 Quince Road, as of 7:30 a.m. 

Brenda Highsmith voted at Balmoral Tuesday morning, casting her presidential ballot for Kamala Harris. 

“I believe she will bring about a change. I’m tired of Donald Trump and the rhetoric. I don’t believe he was a good president last time, and I don’t believe he’ll be a good president this time,” Highsmith said. “He’s a criminal, and I believe our standards should be much higher for someone running for the office of president,” she said. 

Hishan Abkhrayeeh, who is originally from Palestine, voted for Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate for president. He’s been in the United States since 1987.

Polls are open at 142 precincts across Shelby County as of 7 a.m. on this Presidential General Election Day as we begin our live blog coverage.

Polls are open until 7 p.m. and if there are any lines at 7 p.m., voters who are already in line will be able to vote.

Election Day comes after a 14-day early voting period in which 257,515 voters cast ballots at 26 locations across Shelby County.

“It was higher than I expected,” Shelby County Elections Administrator Linda Phillips said Tuesday morning at the Elections Operations Center at Shelby Farms.

The curtain rises on the final act of the 2024 presidential general election Tuesday, Nov. 5, at 7 a.m. in Shelby County.

That’s when polling places across the county open for a 12-hour period.

Here are the basic mechanics of voting on Election Day.

Shelby County Election Commission gears up for Nov. 5

Voter essentials

Here is the sample ballot that lists the races and the candidates.

Elections are primarily about winners and losers, but that’s not all you will find in the vote totals.

There are trends even in losing campaigns when you compare totals and turnout.

Echols: What to do about the election

Here are some of the numbers to watch, and what those numbers have been in recent elections, including in the last six presidential general election races in Tennessee — to nab the state’s 11 electoral votes.

Here is how the Democratic and Republican presidential nominees have fared with Shelby County voters and statewide. The totals go back to the 2000 presidential general election, when the ongoing trend of the Republican nominee winning Tennessee began.