NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — How long would you be willing to wait in line to cast your ballot? That's a question a lot of Nashville early voters have had to ask themselves this week. In Hermitage, around lunchtime Friday, the average wait time was nearly two hours.
The line weaved past both the Fiction and Nonfiction sections inside the library. "All throughout all of the bookshelves," said Leslie Bills, a Nashville voter. "We waited about an hour and twenty minutes!"
Judy Cummings made her second attempt to vote Friday. "Yesterday, I waited in line for about thirty minutes and didn’t make a lot of progress," said Cummings.
It turned out, Friday wasn't a much better option. "I was trying to get it done before Fall Break was over, during the week when there’s not many people here. Wrong," said Cummings.
Any other year, this big of a turnout would be really surprising, but given there's a Presidential election this year. Many of the voters we spoke to said they were encouraged to come vote in the Presidential race. "I really wish we had more people show up at other voting times as well," said Bills.
Even though it's pretty early into early voting, we decided to crunch some of the turnout numbers so far:
Davidson County 2024 Early Voting Totals:
Day 1: 13,986
Day 2: 30,469 (including Day 1 numbers)
Davidson County 2020 Early Voting Totals:
Day 1: 12,899
Day 2: 30,418 (including Day 1 numbers)
Convenience and time management aside, everyone we spoke to seemed really pleased that the line was so long. "Many people fought for the right to vote, you have to use your right," said Bills.
"I like seeing people coming out to vote," said Terrence Starks, another voter in line. "If I had to do it again, I would do it over again."
Of course, voting in the library does have its privileges. "As soon as I got here, I just pulled it off the shelf," joked one woman in line as she read a book.
If you want to early vote, and are worried about the lines, don't fret just yet. Early voting lasts in Tennessee until Halloween. Also, if 2020 is any indication, usually the lines are a little shorter by the second week of early voting.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Chris.Davis@newschannel5.com.
