Early voter turnout down almost 44% compared to 2020 so far, improves from 2016

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Early voting in Tennessee is officially underway, but turnout isn’t as strong as it was in 2020, according to data from the Secretary of State’s office.

As of Wednesday, July 24, 242,357 voters cast an early primary election ballot in Tennessee, which is 186,874 fewer people compared to the same time in 2020; a nearly 44 percent decrease. As of Tuesday, July 23, early voter turnout was almost 20 percent lower compared to 2020.

“Well, it’s not a surprise,” Adam Altendorf, the organizing director for Organize Tennessee said of the nearly 44 percent decline in early voter turnout this election cycle compared to 2020.

Organize Tennessee is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works to uphold safe, secure, and accessible elections, according to the group’s website .

Altendorf and Organize Tennessee’s executive director Nadira Freeman told News 2 the Volunteer State has historically been a state with some of the lowest voter turnout numbers.

The large number of uncontested races this election cycle has contributed to the low voter turnout, but Altendorf and Freeman said there are other explanations.

“Tennessee is a state that just doesn’t really believe in pro-voter legislation,” Freeman said. “Whereas you have states across the country that are making it easier to vote, Tennessee doubles down and triples down on making it harder.”

According to Freeman, certain laws that make the voting process easier don’t exist in Tennessee. Some of those laws present in other states allow for automatic voter registration, pre-registration for voters who are about to turn 18, and in-person ballot drop boxes.

Additionally, Organize Tennessee leaders have witnessed changes made by elections commissions and other officials they believe have made the voting process more confusing.

“I think voters struggle to know when, where, and how to cast a ballot, and the Tennessee Secretary of State and sometimes the election commissions don’t make it easy,” Altendorf said. “In Shelby County in March, they moved 25 percent of the polling locations from last year, and that impacted around 100,000 voters, which is a lot.”

In order to improve voter apathy, Organize Tennessee emphasized the importance of describing the value of voting in a way that is relevant to Tennesseans.

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“If we only talk about who is at the top of the ticket, it might not connect with you,” Freeman said. “When you start expressing and explaining this role itself beyond a candidate, they’re responsible for the schools that your children go to, how much money that school gets, they’re the ones that are responsible for the infrastructure in the city or the county that you live in. Are you tired of having to get new tires because of the potholes that you hit every day on your way to work? This is the person that can address that.”

While voter turnout decreased by almost 44 percent compared to 2020 as of Wednesday, July 24, and by almost 20 percent as of Tuesday, July 23, voter turnout in 2024 compared to 2016 improved by 26.29 percent as of Wednesday.

Early voting in Tennessee ends Saturday, July 27. Voters can cast their ballots at their residential county’s election commission or any of their election commission’s satellite polling locations.

For more information about early voting, click here.

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