Early voting gets underway in Madison County primaries

MADISON COUNTY, Tenn. — Early voting got underway Wednesday in Madison County.

Lawson Givens Jr. was one of the first to cast a ballot in the primary.

“You wait until the first of May, then everybody wants to come in right at the last minute. Then you’ve got a crowd, you’ve got to stand in line,” he said.

Madison County Administrator of Elections Kim Buckley said people can either vote in the Republican or Democratic primary.

“You can only vote in one,” she said. “You cannot vote in two primaries in the same day, same election.”

All 25 County Commission seats are up for grabs this year. Fifteen candidates are running unopposed. Four incumbents have opponents in the Republican primary. Five incumbents are running unopposed in the primary, but will have opponents in the general election.

According to the election commission, three independent candidates are also running for Madison County Commission seats, but you won’t see their names on the ballot until August.

Two candidates running for county mayor are also on the ballot, one Democrat and one Republican. Both are unopposed in the primaries.

“We hope to have a good turnout, but typically this election does not involve a lot of voters,” Buckley said.

Voters will also cast ballots for district attorney general, sheriff, county trustee and several clerk positions. They are all running unopposed in the primary.

Early voting runs through April 26. You can vote from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays and from 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays. The primary is May 1. Winners will face off in the general election Aug. 2.