Four years ago (with the help of Our Jackson Home), Anthony Kirk and I organized a “Get Out the Vote Rally” at Baker Brothers Barbecue. The City Mayoral elections were coming up, and Jackson was at a pivotal growth point in 2019; we believed as many Jackskonians as possible needed to exercise their right to vote.
Like most other local elections in 2019, the City Mayoral race was non-partisan. Each candidate ran their campaign on their own merits with the help of close friends, family, and social media. The beauty of local, non-partisan elections is that they allow the voter an independent and equal voice in the election process – every vote literally counts the same. There is no electoral college to filter votes or a party letter next to a name to influence a vote. A vote was simply a vote.
In what should’ve been a huge turnout, only 11,000 people showed up to vote that May. Jerry Woods and Scott Conger entered a run-off election the next month and the same number of voters participated. Only 20% of the voting population chose to vote in an election for the mayor of their city – an incredulously low number.
There are many reasons – some tangible, some not – of why 80% of the voting population would choose not to vote in a local mayoral election. Apathy, lack of knowledge, small presence of local media are a few reasons voter turnout has been and continues to be low. Those reasons are ambiguous, however. Not much can be done to solve those problems and observe if a change in one of those scenarios could affect voter turnout.
The most logical and measurable reason that voter turnout is continuing to dwindle is actually a fairly easy issue to address: lack of early voting options in Madison County. It’s far past time to extend early voting hours OR simply adjust early voting hours.
Over the last several years, Madison County voting has specifically lagged in local elections; these are the elections that directly impact the lives of citizens more than any other election on the state or federal level.
Looking at the Madison County general elections held in August over the last 12 years, voter turnout is incredibly inconsistent and never eclipses the 33% threshold of the voting population. In essence, only one third of eligible voters are choosing to vote in elections that directly affect them. I chose to look at the general elections in August because that election normally has the most local offices up for election during that particular voting cycle. Here’s how the totals breakdown for Madison County general elections in since 2010:
August 2010: 19,202 Voters
August 2012: 13,609
August 2014: 20,569
August 2016: Roughly 10,000
August 2018: 17,242
August 2020: Roughly 11,000
August 2022: 13,127
Madison County has a population of nearly 100,000 people with around 62,000 eligible voters according to the latest census. It’s also the fastest growing area in the United States…if you’re inclined to believe clickbait on the internet. Either way, Madison County is growing and is poised for a population boom yet only has ONE early voting location. Gibson County – a county half the size of ours – has three early voting locations. The location, though, isn’t even the main issue when it comes to early voting opportunities for citizens of Jackson and Madison County.
Out of the surrounding counties in West Tennessee, Madison County is the only county who does not offer early voting hours on weekdays outside of the hours of 9-4. If you work in a neighboring county (which I did for a year and a half), there is literally no opportunity to vote early on a weekday. The majority of the working population in and around Madison County works from 8:00 to 5:00, and that’s not including the hours working parents spend outside of work getting kids to and from school. The early voting system in Madison County favors retirees and people in positions of management who have flexible daily work schedules. It puts hourly workers and most working parents at a great disadvantage when it comes to having the opportunity to vote early. Early voting in Madison County is simply not equitable and clearly favors a privileged portion of our community.
The election commission’s political makeup is essentially determined by which party holds the majority on the state level.The state works with local parties to select members to local election commissions. Right now, Republicans have control of nearly every political branch across Tennessee. Because of that, the Madison County Election Commission is made up of three Republicans and two Democrats.
While allowing voters the opportunity to vote should in no way be a partisan issue, we all know that’s not the case. During the latest meeting of the Election Commission, citizens spoke for and against adding or adjusting our current early voting hours. Democratic citizens pleaded for more voting hours, while the Chairman of the Republican Party, Brad Greer referenced the year the current hours were put into place (1994) when arguing against an early vote expansion. Like most conservative policies lately, his argument was regressive and static. Just because we’ve done something one way for thirty years, doesn’t mean it’s working. In fact, not changing or evaluating a system that’s in place is simply poor practice. I’m sure Mr. Greer doesn’t run his real estate company in 2023 the same way he would’ve run it in 1994.
During this same meeting, a member of the Election Commission proposed an hourly shift in early voting hours on one day of the week. On the appointed day, early voting hours would move from 9-4 to 12-7, therefore allowing more of the working community time to vote during the week.
Down party lines, the Madison County Election Commission voted 2-1 (Republican to Democrat) to not extend or adjust early voting hours. The commission is tying the hands of Administrator of Elections Lori Lott, who even mentioned wanting more early voting space by the time the August elections roll around this year. The lack of space and hours for early voting not only disenfranchises a number of voters, it also puts a strain on the Madison County Election staff.
I can’t decide if the most recent vote to not extend or adjust hours is due to cowardice, simple ignorance, or a nefarious scheme to keep power in the hands of a few. I’m equally torn between the latter two on that list. While many parts of Jackson are evolving, the most important parts seemingly remain stagnant.
