Early Voting Underway Today

Early voting gets underway today at the early voting site in the Western Plaza Shopping Center in Newport. Hours today are from 9am-3:30pm. The early voting site will have Saturday hours from 8:30am-11:30am. Early voting continues through July 27. Hours are from 9am to 3:30pm on July 15-19.

Cocke County Administrator of Elections, Josh Blanchard, says early voting will stay open later for the last week, with hours of 9:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Monday, July 22, through Friday, July 26. The last day of early voting on Saturday, July 27, hours will be 8:30 to noon.

Blanchard says that there are three types of ballots that will be available to you. State Republican Primary with General Election; State Democratic Primary with General Election; or General Election only. Keep in mind that all offices on the County General Election ballot are running unopposed. This includes Assessor of Property and three County School Board seats for Districts 3, 5, and 7.

However, both the Republican and Democratic ballots feature a contested primary for United States Senate, and the Democratic ballot has a contested primary for United States House of Representatives.

Josh Blanchard says that even though the ballot is light, the election commission office encourages Cocke County residents to keep a strong voter history by participating in the August State Primary and County General Election. You can get more information about the August 1 election by going to the website CockeCountyElections.org or by calling 423-623-2042.