While presidential battleground states continue to count votes, the count in Shelby County is quietly moving toward completion with a large number of provisional ballots.

A record early vote total in Shelby County was the high point as voter turnout lagged on Election Day. In the aftermath of Tuesday’s election, there were other indications of deep fissures behind both of the front lines that define the county’s partisan divide.

A runoff on Dec. 8 will determine who wins two alderman positions in Collierville. Collierville has not had a runoff since 2003.

A little more than 16 hours later, incumbent Bartlett Alderwoman Paula Sedgwick has not decided whether to challenge last night’s results in an election she likely lost by 61 votes against challenger Kevin Quinn.

The fate of the presidency hangs in the balance as President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden fight for the last handful of battleground states.

Former city manager Jim Atkinson and incumbent Wesley Wright make plans for their new four-year terms.

The Trump presidency has accelerated preexisting rural/urban divides and Tennessee, while not a “battleground” state, is one of the states where those divisions are most deeply felt.

Torrey Harris, who lost to John DeBerry by 21 percentage points in the 2018 Democratic primary, upset the 26-year incumbent in Tuesday’s voting.

In a close race, John Gillespie, a political newcomer, narrowly defeats Democratic challenger Gabby Salinas in the state House District 97 race. 

White retains his seat with 55% of the vote, according to unofficial totals from the Shelby County Election Commission.

Republican Bill Hagerty handily defeated Democratic Memphis environmental activist Marquita Bradshaw Tuesday, Nov. 3, for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Lamar Alexander, bringing to an end the surprise run for the seat that Bradshaw began with a primary upset of Nashville attorney James Mackler.

Millions of voters put aside worries about the virus — and some long lines — to turn out in person, joining 102 million fellow Americans who voted days or weeks earlier, a record number that represented 73% of the total vote in the 2016 presidential election.

Germantown voters decided who would fill open alderman positions and a school board seat.

Related Story: Stamps wins reelection in Collierville; runoffs will decide two other alderman seats

Collierville voters cast ballots for three alderman positions and one contested school board seat.

Challenger Kevin Quinn defeated incumbent Bartlett alderwoman Paula Sedgwick by a mere 61 votes in the suburb’s only contested alderman race, according to unofficial totals from the Shelby County Election Commission. 

Overall, election officials were happy with the day’s process. “It was well-organized. We had a good plan and a lot of people,” Shelby County Elections Administrator Linda Phillips said.

Who will be your elected officials come next year? We know most of them. 

Republican Bill Hagerty was in Cordova Monday morning and Democrat Marquita Bradshaw ended her campaign Monday evening in Orange Mound. The two have waged very different campaigns for the seat Lamar Alexander leaves at the end of the year.

The lawsuit filed Sunday seeks an expedited court hearing and injunction so U.S. Senate Democratic nominee Marquita Bradshaw’s campaign can contact voters ahead of Election Day and urge them to submit their absentee ballots.

Germantown candidates like to brand themselves as independent thinkers. Recent endorsements and financial disclosures show ideological alignments exist in the non-partisan races.

A new voting app breaks down who the early voters were. The broader turnout numbers show more than half of the county’s registered voters have already cast their ballots.

Here’s a quick guide to the competitive races on the ballot and what is at stake in other races that aren’t as competitive.

The decision voters are weighing is whether they want a new voice on the Bartlett Board of Mayor and Aldermen or to keep the current group in place for at least another two years.