Voters, officials share Election Day experiences

MADISON COUNTY, Tenn. — As voters head to the polls in Madison County, many have questions about COVID-19 and its potential impact.

For Jackson resident Justin Smith, it was a special day — it was his first time voting in an election.

“This is my first time voting. So much has been going on, and I just feel like it’s time for my people — my youth — to use their voice for something better than just social media,” Smith said.

Voting looks different this election, due to extra safety precautions. Those included sanitizing each voting station, wearing masks and plastic barriers for the workers.

And the election commission had more volunteers missing than usual.

“We had a lot of Election Day workers drop out, and I mean as late as yesterday they were dropping out in great numbers,” said Madison County Administrator of Elections Kim Buckley.

Buckley says she thinks COVID-19 was the main reason. Questions arose about the virus and if it would lower voter turnout.

Smith said while it is in the back of his mind, he appreciated the precautions put in place.

“I just knew I had to use the right precautions when using a mask. I used hand sanitizer, and they had everything structured where you didn’t have a lot of contact with people and that was cool. It made me feel safer when I was voting,” Smith said.

“We’ve done everything we know to protect our workers and our voters, so we have not had any concerns voiced about that,” Buckley said.

Smith said that he came out to vote because he wants his generation to make more of an impact.

“I honestly feel like my generation thinks voting sometimes doesn’t matter. Like our vote isn’t taken seriously, but it really is,” Smith said.

Meanwhile, Buckley said, other than some early morning jitters, everything ran smoothly at the polls.

“They’re working under a great concern, and I think they’re great Americans,” Buckley said.

Buckley said they had very few complaints or problems with voting machines.