1,266 residents cast a ballot in early voting for the Chattanooga City Council runoff election. Early voting was held at the Hamilton County Election Commission site from March 25 to April 8. The runoff election ends tomorrow, Tuesday, April 14, when voters cast a ballot at their regular polling precincts.
Following the March 3 general election, three districts—1, 8, and 9—went to a runoff because no candidate received 50 percent plus one of the vote. In the event that a candidate does not reach that threshold, the City Charter requires a runoff election between the two candidates with the most votes. Three Council seats remain undetermined. District 1: Linda Bennett (incumbent) and Deborah Scott. District 8: Andrae McGary and Leamon Pierce (incumbent). District 9: J.T. McDaniel and Peter Murphy. The Election Commission said that voter turnout could be as high as 6,500 tomorrow, but citing a "lack of interest of the public at large," it remains skeptical of that projection. For information on polling hours and locations, visit the Hamilton County Election Commission.
David Morton
facebook-500415551 on April 14, 2009
I'm interested to hear the final numbers on day-of voting for the runoffs. When does that information come out? I'm sure you guys will be on top of it, but just wondering. When I stopped by the polls today at about 2pm, they had only seen 100 people for District 8.
It's sad that we can have record turnout to elect Obama but we can't get people to engage at the local level, where their vote has so much impact, and their voice will be heard.
DavidMorton on April 14, 2009
Sorry for the absence, everyone. I had a long Coral Castles practice tonight. I'll have a story on the runoff election tomorrow. In the meantime, check out the HCEC via @josiahq